UCSB 


j.  CODLING 


ictus  t0($l0rg 


BY 

3E.  (Eufcluuj, 

A  Shiftier  nf  tljr  Umtpl)  S-tatrs  anb  «f  our  Hurt) 
QII|rtat. 


(gmttauwtrj  a  S'krlrl)  «f  tl|p  Autiior'a  ICifr 


1902. 
Nrba&a,  Inlna,  1.  ».  A. 


(Cujnjrtgljt. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the 
year  1902,  by  RUTH  D.  CODLING,  in  the  office 
of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DEDICATED  TO  .MY 
BELOVED    WIFE, 


IN  JESUS'  NAME  FOR  THE  GLORY 
OF  GOD.       AMEN  ! 


The  object  of  this  little  book  is  not  to  satisfy  the 
curious,  the  rhetorical,  or  the  classical  eye  ;  not  at 
all.  It  might  have  been  written  in  a  more  pleasing 
and  readable  manner  if  its  object  had  been  financial 
success  or  worldly  renown ;  but,  God  be  praised  we 
believe  that  the  same  spirit  who  said,  "  God  so  loved 
the  world,"  etc.,  St.  John  3:16,  has  called  its  writer 
to  a  nobler  aim,  a  grander  purpose,  a  purer  love  : 
that  of  introducing  unsaued  and  unsanctified  souls  by 
stepping  stones  of  hue  and  light,  into  the  arms  of 
a  perfect  and  complete  Savior ;  the  Son  of  God 
manifested  in  the  flesh. 

May  God  place  his  seal  upon  it  to  this  end  is  the 
prayer  of  the  WRITER. 

IN  JESUS'  NAME. 


Autljor'0  Apologg, 


This  little  book  was  born  during  a  prayer 
meeting  held  in  the  M.  E.  Church,  Nevada, 
Iowa,  June  28th,  1900,  while  the  writer  was 
kneeling  in  silent  prayer.  Briefly  stated,  it  is 
as  follows : 

While  others  were  praying,  the  writer  was 
also  talking  to  God  mentally,  when,  all  of  a 
sudden,  I  beheld  a  book  like  an  ordinary  sized 
Bible,  as  it  were,  floating  within  my  body,  and 
at  the  same  time  received  such  anointing  as  to 
cause  me  to  ask  God  to  stay  His  hand  that  I 
might  not  disturb  the  meeting.  This  I  recorded. 
I  did  not  understand  the  vision  until  January 
3d,  1902,  while  upon  my  bed,  when  God  set  my 
mind  to  rest  concerning  it.  O  glory  to  His  most 
excellent  name !  Amen  and  Amen !  The  writer 
has  but  a  limited  education,  but  according  to 
promise,  "I  will  instruct  thee,"  "He  shall  teach 
you  all  things,"  (which  are  for  the  glory  of  the 
Father)  the  writer  finds  to  be  true.  Being  shut 
in  the  house  alone  with  God  as  my  only  teacher, 


I  write  in  pain  and  great  bodily  affliction  for 
Hi-  glory,  and  the  salvation  of  the  souls  of 
my  beloved  fellow •  beings.  My  attitude  before 
God,  is  that  of  a  typewriter  to  its  operator.  The 
machine  is  oiled  with  the  love  of  Jesus.  The 
type  of  God's  word  is  in  place,  inked  with  the 
power  of  Him  who  doeth  all  things  well ;  and 
manipulated  by  the  Holy  Spirit.  He  places 
one  finger  of  Love  upon  this  key,  another  finger 
of  Truth  upon  that  key,  and  another  finger  of 
Light  on  that  other  key,  and  a  line  is  written, 
then  a  page,  other  pages;  when  He  shall  say 
regarding  this -book  as  He  said  regarding  that 
book  written  in  His  atoning  blood,  "It  is  fin- 
ished." 

Beloved  reader,  realizing  my  earthly  pilgrim- 
age is  almost  run,  that  the  sand  in  the  hour- 
glass of  time  is  almost  exhausted,  and,  like 
Samson  of  old,  desiring  to  slay  more  (sin)  at 
my  death  than  in  my  life,  the  writing  of  this 
book  is  undertaken,  with  a  prayer  upon  almost 
every  page,  that  you  may  have  fitness  to  meet 
your  humble  servant  in  Paradise. 

THE  AUTHOR. 


uf  (Emttrnia. 


Title 1 

Dedicatory 3 

Preface      4 

Author's  Apology 5 

God's  Stepping  Stones.     What  are  They?  ...  11 

Three  Epochs 13 

Exodus  29:20, —  or  Blood  on  the  Ear,  Thumb  and 

Toe 18 

From  My  Journal,  1901 41 

Is  Your  Name  Changed  ? 53 

Justification  (Now)  .    .        60 

Cast  Thy  Burden  Upon  the  Lord 72 

That  Lodge 74 

The  Awful  End  of  a  Backslider 79 

The  Fool 84 

Four  Tracts 85 

Dat  Ole  Pipe 86 

Who  Cannot  Have  Power  in  Prayer  89 


Dying  Testimony  and  Vision 91 

Sanctification    (Now)  . 95 

Holiness     (Now) 117 

The  Paragon     (Jesus) 131 

One  Minute  After  Death 133 

A  National  Curse 145 

Sketch  of  Author's  Life 150 

My  Conversion 172 

My  Sanctified  Experience 177 

Sketch  of  My  Life.     (Concluded) 185 


An> 


When  the  word  stonex  or  rock  is  mentioned 
the  thought,  which  on  the  instant  passes  through 
cur  mind,  is  that  of  strength,  endurance,  or 
power.  Notwithstanding,  these  are  only  ma- 
terial substances  or  agencies,  created  for  the 
use  of  mankind  by  Him  the  Creator  of  all 
things,  both  material  and  also  spiritual. 

"God  is  a  Spirit  ;  and  they  that  worship  Him, 
must  worship  Him  in  spirit  and  in  truth." 
St.  John  4:24.  So  it  is  self  evident,  at  least 
to  him  who  is  born  of  the  Spirit,  that  the  Step- 
ping Stones  of  which  we  shall  quite  briefly 
speak  at  this  time  and  place,  are  not  material, 
hut  spiritual.  In  fact  they  are  only  metaphori- 
cally used  to  denote  the  commands  and  the 
promises  of  that  great  Spiritual  Rock  Christ 
Jesus,  who  lead  Israel  through  the  sea  and  wild- 
erness. For  be  it  remembered,  God  was  in 
Jesus  reconciling  the  world  unto  Himself.  My 
dear  reader,  do  not  think  for  a  moment,  that 
God  has  need  for  these  commandments,  or  these 


12  STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY 

promises;  no  indeed.  This  would  be  transform- 
ing the  Divine  to  the  human.  But  as  we  see 
in  the  case  of  Abraham,  when  God  was  making 
the  covenant  with  him,  seeing  there  was  no 
greater  to  swear  (or  ratify)  by,  -he  swore  by 
himself.  Hence  these  commandments,  and  thc-r 
promises  are  from  the  triune  God  to  the  un- 
saved and  the  unsanctified.  Therefore,  we 
would  urge  upon  all  whose  state  or  condition 
may  come  under  either  of  the  above  facts,  to 
begin  at  once  in  Jesus'  name,  to  search  tilt- 
Scriptures  for  these  Stepping  Stones  to  Glory. 
And,  as  the  Author  of  the  Bible,  the  Holy  Spir- 
it, reveals  them  to  you,  obey  them.  The  child- 
ren of  Israel  stepped  from  rock  to  rock,  until 
they  passed  clean  over  Jordan,  so  the  Chris- 
tian by  obedience,  steps  into  Canaan  of  per- 
fect love,  and  Eschol  grapes,  pomgranates,  and 
honey  out  of  the  rock. 


STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY  13 


There  has  been  three  epochs  in  the  work 
of  salvation :  First,  the  dispensation  of  the 
Father,  or  the  dispensation  of  law;  second,  the 
dispensation  of  reconciliation  and  atonement; 
third,  the  dispensation  of  the  Holy  Spirit  or 
executive  power.  The  dispensation  of  the 
Father  reached  its  climax  on  Mt.  Sinai.  The 
dispensation  of  the  Son  Jesus  Christ  on  the 
cross.  The  dispensation  of  the  Holy  Spirit  at 
Pentecost."  There  were  three  distinct  epochs  or 
periods  in  Jesus'  stay  upon  earth.  The  year 
of  Obscurity,  the  year  of  Fame  and  Favor, 
and  the  year  -of  stern,  relentless  Opposition. 
There  are  also  three,  mountains,  Mt.  Sinai, 
where  the  law  was  given ;  Mt.  Calvary  where 
the  atonement  was  made,  and  Mt.  Zion  where 
the  spirit  was  poured  out."  Perhaps  we  can 
simplify  this  by  putting;  it  in  this  form — the 
Father  originated  the  scheme  of  redemption ; 
the  Son  furnished  the  means,  and  the  Holy 
Spirit, -as  the  executive  of  the  Godhood  applies 
the  remedies. 


14  STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY 

The  Holy  Bible  is  (as  all  are  aware)  a  large 
book,  containing  some  thirty-two  thousand 
verses;  yet  only  treating  of  four  fundamental 
principles.  -It  treats  of  Heaven;  it  treats  «>f 
hell;  it  treats  of  Christians;  it  treats  of  Din- 
ners. Heaven  for  Christians,  hell  for  sinners. 

Because  a  person  is  on  the  inside  of  four 
brick  walls  of  a  church  building,  is  not  to  say 
that  person  is  a  Christian  or  that  he  or  she  has 
fitness  for  Heaven  by  any  means.  But  when  we 
analyze  the  redemptive  scheme,  and  examine 
the  essence,  we  find  only  two  questions :  First, 
the  sin  question ;  second  the  Son  question.  The 
first  of  these  has  been  settled  forever  by  a  sin- 
hating  God  meeting  a  sinbearing  Christ,  where- 
by God  became  reconciled  to  a  ruined  and  lost 
world.  So  now  the  Son  question  is  to  In- 
disposed of  and  that  is  to  be  settle  1  between  the 
sinner  and  the  Son.  So  now,  my  beloved  per- 
ishing one,  what  will  you  do  with  Jesus  today  ''. 
Will  you  return  and  receive  him;  or  will  you 
rebel  and  reject  him  ?  We  pray  you  in  Christ 
stead,  be  ye  reconciled  to  Go:].  Please  road 
II.  Cor..  5 :19-20.  When  a  sinhating  sinner 
meets  a  sinbearing  Saviour  a  reconciliation  can 
soon  be  effected. 


STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY  15 

In  order  to  be  a  complete  Christian,  thor- 
oughly furnished  unto  every  good  word  and 
work ;  in  order  to  have  a  whole  salvation,  see  St- 
John,  10:10,  which  says:  "I  (Jesus)  have 
come  to  give  you  life  and  that  you  might  have 
that  life  more  abundantly." 

Beloved,  do  you  think  that  you  would  like 
to  have  that  "more  abundantly"  added  to  your 
already  spiritual  life  ?  If  so,  how  do  you  ex- 
pect to  receive  it '?  By  disobedience  ?  By  your 
views  ?  Please  read  I.  Cor.,  1 :  30,  which  tells 
us  emphatically  that  each  individual  person  in 
the  whole  world  is  to  receive  Him  in  four  parts 
if  they  would  have  a  complete  and  perfect 
Jesus.  First,  Wisdom ;  second,  Righteousness ; 
third,  Sanctification ;  fourth,  Redemption. 

Kind  readers,  will  you  please  allow  me  to 
give  at  this  time  and  place,  the  definition  of 
Entire  Sanctification  as  given  l>y  our  beloved 
brother  Dr.  Adam  Clark,  whose  sanctified  and 
glorified  spirit  is  now  casting  his  crown  of 
rejoicing,  bespangled  with  thousands  of  re- 
deemed souls  at -the  feet  of  Him  who  is  all  and 
in  all  ?  He  says :  "It  is  fitness  to  appear  be- 
fore God,  and  thorough  preparation  to  enjoy 
an  eternity  of  glory."  Do  you  object  to  this  ? 


16  STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY 

Beloved  brother,  sister,  have  you  at  ihis  hour 
fitness  to  appear  before  God  ?  If  not,  why  not  ? 
Who  is  to  blame?  Do  you,  can  you  find  it  in 
your  heart  to  blame  either  Him  who  hung  upon 
the  cruel,  bloody  cross  for  your  sins,  and  is  now 
at  the  right  hand  of  God  advocating  and  plead- 
ing-with  Him  that  you  may  be  kept  out  of  hell ; 
and  further,  that  you  may  be  with  Him  in  eter- 
nal bliss  and  glory  ?  Or  his  Father  who  so  loved 
the  world  that  He  gave  His  only  begotten  Son, 
that  whosoever  believeth  in  Him  should  not  per- 
ish, but  have  everlasting  life? 

Do  you  accuse  Jesus  for  hanging  upon  that 
cruel  cross,  and  becoming  a  curse  in  your  stead, 
who  was  wounded  for  your  transgressions,  who 
was  bruised  for  your  iniquities,  and  who 
was  chastised  that  you  might  have  peace, 
and  soul  rest  ?  Beloved,  it  may  be  for 
the  glory  of  God  to  mention  a  fact 
which  tens  of  millions  of  God's  children 
ought  to  know.  And  that  fact  is,  regen- 
eration and  adoption  gives  a  sinner  title  to 
Heaven,  but  it  requires  entire  sanctification 
(heart  purity)  to  give  fitness.  Example: 
My  son  may  be  an  idiot,  he  may  scarce- 
lv  know  his  name  or  come  into  the  house  when 


STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY  17 

it  is  raining;  my  estate  may  be  worth  two  mil- 
lion dollars.  That  poor  afflicted  son  is  my  law- 
ful heir.  He  has  title  as  such  to  my  estate 
in  the  event  of  my  death.  He  has  a  title 
to  those  large  cattle  farms,  those  mercantile 
enterprises.  Bnt  has  he  the  fitness  to  success- 
fully manipulate  them?  Not  at  all.  Just  so 
it  is  in  our  spiritual  relations  with  the  great 
God  of  Heaven. 

Holiness  is  begun  in  regeneration,  but  com- 
pleted in  entire  sanctification.  Though  after 
purity,  comes  maturity.  And  this  maturing 
process  goes  on  all  through  time,  and  undoubted- 
ly through  the  cycles  and  aeons  of  eternity.  If 
the  truly  converted  child  of  God  only  remains 
passively  upon  the  altar  the  Holy  Spirit  will 
continually  knock  off  the  barnacles,  and  sand 
paper  you  down,  and  polish  you  so  nicely  that 
your  Heavenly  Father  can  behold  the  image  of 
his  Son  reflecting  from  your  holy  life. 


18  STEPPING   STONES   TO    GLORY 


iExobua  29:20,  or  Hood  on  the  Sar, 


Why  ^  For  consecration,  i.  e.,  a  complete 
separation  from  the  -world  in  our  life  and  char- 
acter. Example:  In  the  shale  of  evening  a 
group  of  young  men  and  middle  aged  men  of 
the  world  were  in  a  back  alley  in  the 
city  of  S  --  y.  A  church  member  whose 
name  is  W.  J.  -  —  ,  joined  in  their  merri- 
ment while  these  wicked  fellows  were  blasphem- 
ing the  name  of  God,  and  clouds  of  tobacco 
smoke  tainted  the  evening  air;  the  fumes  of 
liquid  hell  emitting  from  their  throats,  and  yet 
a  thing  more  horrible  was  being  discussed,  that 
of  sacrificing  the  innocence  and  virtue  of  aer- 
eral  unsuspecting  girls  at  the  coming  ball. 

One  of  the  company  seeing  some  blood  on  the 
right  ear  of  Mr.  W.  J.  —  —  ,  exclaimed  with 
an  oath,  what  is  that  on  your  ear?  The  answer 
was,  blood.  What  blood?  The  blood  of  Je<n~ 
Christ.  What  is  it  for?  It  is  to  show  that  I 
am  His  property,  and  that  I  am  consecrated  to 


STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY  19 

His  service.  That  my  ear  is  not  to  be  the  dump- 
ing' ground  for  the  devil's  trash.  Then  with 
an  epithet  upon  hypocrites,  the  question  came 
again.  Why  then  are  you  here?  Mr.W.  J. 
was  speechless. 

Example  two :  Blood  on  the  Thumb.  A 
father,  a  member  of  the  Baptist  church  (who 
ha-  since  gone  to  render  an  account  of  his  in- 
dividual acts),  sat  beside  the  card  table  in  the 
home.  (Just  to  keep  his  boy  from  learning  bad 
habits  you  know.)  Still  that  son,  to  the  writer's 
certain  knowledge,  ruined  the  hired  girl  in 
that  father's  house  the  same  winter  that  the 
professing  Baptist  official  was  teaching  him  how 
in  a  short  time  he  might  become  as  he  after- 
wards proved  to  be,  a  gambler,  etc.  But  while 
the  Baptist  deacon  was  shuffling  and  passing  the 
cards  to  this  one,  and  to  that  one,  and  to  him- 
self, the  son  looking  into  his  father's  face,  re- 
markerl :  Father,  what  is  that  upon  your  right 
thumb  '.  That,  my  dear  boy,  is  blood.  What 
blood  ?  The  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  that  taketh 
away  the  sin  of  the  whole  world. 

The  blood  that  is  not  only  the  subject  matter 
of  both  the  Old  and  the  Xew  Testaments  but  in 
fact  produced  the  compilation  of  both.  And 


20  STEPPING   STONES  TO   GLORY 

while  your  sister  seems  to  be  resting  before  she 
begins  another  game,  I  will  hold  the  deck  of 
cards  in  my  hand  while  I  quote  you  one  of 
many  passages  in  God's  word.  You  will  find 
these  words  in  II.  Cor.,  6:14-18.  "Be  ye  n<> 
unequally  yoked  together  with  unbelievers ;  for 
what  fellowship  hath  righteousness  with  un- 
righteousness and  what  communion  hath  light 
with  darkness?  And  what  concord  hath  Christ. 
with  Belial  ?  Or  what  part  hath  he  that  be- 
lieveth  with  an  infidel  ?  And  what  agreement 
hath  the  temple  of  the  living  God  with  id<>l> '. 
For  ye  are  the  temple  of  God,  as  God  hath  said. 
T  will  dwell  in  them,  and  walk  in  them ;  and  I 
will  be  their  God ;  and  they  shall  be  my  people. 
Wherfore  come  out  from  among  them,  and  be  ye 
separate,  saith  the  Lord,  and  I  will  receive  you, 
and  will  be  a  father  unto  you,  and  ye  shall 
be  my  sons  and  daughters,  saith  the  Lord  Al- 
mighty." 

And  another  verse  just  comes  to  my  mind, 
Psalms  1 :1.  "Blessed  is  the  man  that  walketh 
not  into  the  council  of  the  ungodly,  nor  stand- 
eth  in  the  way  of  sinners,  nor  sitteth  in  tho 
seat  of  the  scornful."  I  will  just  quote  you 
one  more  verse  and  then  we  will  put  our  whok- 


STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY  21 

soul  in  our  card  playing.  I  General  John, 
second  chapter,  fifteenth  verse,  you  will  find 
these  words:  "Love  not  the  world,  neither  the 
things  that  are  in  the  world.  If  any  man  love 
the  world  the  love  of  the  Father  is  not  in  him." 
The  beautiful  daughter  of  fourteen  summers, 
whom  the  father  thought  to  be  resting  from 
her  card  playing,  was  resolving  in  her  mind 
what  that  red  spot  on  her  father's  thumb  could 
be.  Was  it  incipient  erysipelas  ?  Truly  she  had 
not  noticed  it  before.  So,  putting  her  thoughts 
into  words  she  said:  Father,  what  is  that  red 
spot  upon  your  thumb  ?  That,  my  sweet  child, 
is  blood.  Did  you  not  hear  me  remark  the 
same  to -your  brother?  Blood?  Yes,  dear. 
What  blood  ?  The  same  that  I  told  your 
brother  a  short  time  since.  Would  you 
have  me  cite  you  to  another  verse  ?  She- bowed 
her  assent.  I.  John,  1 :7,  says :  "If  we  walk 
in  the  light  as  he  is  in  the  light,  we  have  fel- 
lowship one  with  another,  and  the  blood  of  Jesus 
( 'lirist  His  Son  cleanseth  us  from  all  sin." 
Papa  may  I  ask  you  a  question  ?  Certainly 
my  daughter  and  especially  if  it  pertains  to 
your  soul's  interest.  Are  those  cards  that  you 
are  holding  in  your  hand,  the  same  that  I  read 


22  STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY 

about  as  being  used  at  the  saloons,  brothels, 
and  gambling  tables  \  I  have  to  admit  they  ;uv. 
Do  you  think  the  thought  of  their  construction 
and  usage  for  such  purposes  originated  in  the 
mind  of  the  great  God  of  Heaven  or  in  the  heart 
of  the  great  enemy  of  our  souls  ? 

My  child,  your  questions  are  quite  philosoph- 
ical, and  prove  conclusively  to  my  mind  that 
you  are  interested  in  your  lessons  in  moral 
philosophy,  for  which  I  am  very  much  plea-cd. 
But  to  answer  your  question  as  nearly  categor- 
ically as  I  can,  would  say  that,  when  the  spirit 
and  the  word  agree,  we  may  be  very  sure  it  is 
of  God.  Well,  papa,  my  spirit  and  the  words 
you  have  just  quoted  do  not  agree,  for  I  am 
miserable.  Should  not  that  blood  on  your  right 
thumb  spoken  of  in  Exodus  29:20  be  an  expo- 
nent in  your  life  of  what  you  just  told  of,  a 
complete  separation  between  you  and  the  enemy 
of  God,  the  enemy  of  your  soul  ? 

My  beloved  daughter,  since  you  have  put 
your  questions  in  such  a  simple,  unvarnished, 
logical  manner,  condemnation  has  already 
seized  upon  my  heart,  a  new  light  has  broken 
into  my  soul,  and  we  all  know,  or  should  know, 
that  it  is  the  amount  of  light  which  measures 


STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY  23 

our  responsibility  before  God.  And  St.  James, 
4:17,  tells  us:  "He  that  knoweth  to  do  good 
and  doeth  it  not  .to  him  it  is  sin."  Papa,  if 
that  pack  of  cards  in  your  hand  do  not  agree 
with  the  blood  upon  your  right  thumb  (though 
more  properly  speaking  your  wrong  thumb) 
and  they  sprang  from  the  heart  of  Satan,  and 
are  his  passport  to  the  abode  of  the  damned, 
why  hold  them  longer  ?  Why  not  make  a  prac- 
tical, ocular  separation  from  the  blood  on  your 
right  thumb? 

There  was  a  long  pause,  silence,  and  some 
meditation  on  the  part  of  the  head  of  the  fam- 
ily. With  a  great  lump  in  his  throat,  and  crys- 
tal drops  in  his  eyes,  the  Baptist  professor  arose, 
opened  the  stove  door,  and  consigned  those 
cards  (the  devil's  call  birds)  to  their  proper 
place.  Then  turning  to  mother,  daughter  and 
son  said :  Let  us  pray. 

The  sequel  is  only  to  be  read  in  Heaven 
when  the  books  shall  be  opened  and  another 
book  opened  which  is  the  book  of  life;  out  of 
which- every  person  is  judged  according  to  their 
deeds  done  here  in  the  body  whether  they  are 
good,  or  whether  they  are  evil.  Revelations, 
20:12. 


24  STEPPING   STONES  TO   GLORY 

"Keep  my  prone  heart,  and  let  it  be 
Securely  locked  to  all  but  Thee: 
Seal  upon  thy  breast,  and  let  me  wear 
That  pledge  of  love,  forever  there." 

Example  third:  Blood  on  the  Toe.  A 
young  man  of  prepossessing  appearance  and 
high  social  standing,  who  was  also  a  professor  of 
the  religion  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  a 
member  of  the  M.  E.  Church  in  the  city  of  New 
York  came  to  Des  Moines,  Iowa,  and  united 
with  the  church  in  that  city.  His  educational 
qualifications  and  affable  demeanor  soon  won 
for  him  the  admiration  of ,  the  aristocratic  por- 
tion of  the  church.  For  be  it  remembered  there 
is,  as  a  rule,  a, church  within  a  church.  Whilr 
this  young  man,  whom  we  will  call  Eugene 
Sherman  (not  wishing  to  call  into  public  his 
real  name),  was  attending  a  very  select  dance 
in  the  private  home  of  one  of  the  members  of 
the  same  church  to  which  he  belonged,  the 
belle  of  the  occasion  presented  him  with  two 
beautiful  pink  and  white  roses.  Upon  receiving 
them  in  his  hand,  he  gave  a  sudden  start  as  of 
pain,  which  was  really  the  case  from  one  of 
"The  Thorns  Among  the  Roses." 


STEPPING  STONES   TO    GLORY  25 

But  the  real,  true,  dominant  pain  was  in  his 
heart.  Could  it  be  supposed  for  a  moment  that 
those  fair,  fragrant  roses  of  Sharon  had  it  in 
their  blushing  faces  to  wound  a  human  heart? 
O  no,  impossible.  He  had  caught  sight  of  that 
drop  of  crimson  upon  her  right  toe  which  took 
Ais  thoughts  back  to  that  select  gathering  in 
New  York  City ;  where  that  lady  church  mem- 
ber with  the  blood  upon  her  right  thumb,  in- 
sisted, that  just  for  her  sake,  he  would  take 'his 
/irxf  glass  which  had  already  started  him  on  his 
way  to  a  drunken  church  member's  .'hell!  But, 
like  Mary  of  old,  he  pondered  these  things  in 
his  heart. 

THE  DAXCE   BEGAN. 

All  was  smiles,  flowers,  music,  and  seeming 
joy  as  Eugene  Sherman  and  the  belle  of  the 
evening  stood  at  the  head  of  the  set  upon  the 
floor,  exchanging  pleasant  looks  and  coquetish 
remarks,  while  the  musicians  were  tuning  their 
instruments.  This  being  accomplished,  the 
master  of  ceremonies  cried  out :  On  with  the 
dance;  let  joy  be  unrestrained.  Whereupon 
the  orchestra  struck  up  a  lively  cotillion. 


26  STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY 

The  tripping  of  the  light  fantastic  toe  began  ; 
and  in  a  few  minutes  the  giddy  whirl  of  the 
hour  was  at  its  height.  Soon  this  set  of  dancers 
was  exchanged  for  another.  So  we  find  Eugene 
Sherman  and  the  belle,  comfortably  seated  upon 
a  divan  in  a  cove  in  the  wall,  in  seeming 
colloquy,  which  ran  in  this  manner:  Excuse 
me,  Miss,  W — ,  but  is  it  possible  that  yon  have 
had  the  misfortune  to  step  upon  some  diamond 
dye?  I  see  you  have  some  on  the  toe  of  your 
right  foot.  Oh  no,  indeed,  that  is  blood.  Blood  ? 
Yes,  verily.  That  is  the  unwritten  language  of 
our  discipline.  That  is  the  seal  upon  the  con- 
tract which  I  made  before  God  in  my  baptis- 
mal vow,  and  again  upon  my  reception  into  the 
M.  E.  Church.  Listen  while  I  repeat  it  to 
you.  'TDost  thou  renounce  the  devil  and  all 
his  works,  the  vain  pomp  and  glory  of  the 
world,  with  all  covetous  desires  of  the  same, 
and  the  carnal  desires  of  the  flesh,  so  thou  wilt 
not  follow  nor  be  led  by  them?"  Ans. 
I  renounce  them  all.  Sister  W — ,  for 
so  I  must  regard  you,  since  we  both 
belong  to  the  same  church,  I  must  con- 
fess to  you  that  since  you  have  told  me  it  is 
blood  on  your  right  toe,  and  since  you  have 


STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY  27 

cited  me  to  that  baptismal  vow,  there  is  a  very 
strange  feeling  taking  hold  of  my  whole  being 
which  troubles  me  greatly.  It  reminds  me  of 
the  hand  writing  on  the  wall  mentioned  in  the 
Bible. 

And  just  now  those  verses  in  Eccl.,  5 :4-5, 
comes  to  my  mind.  "When  thou  vowest  a  vow 
unto  the  Lord,  defer  not  to  pay  it ;  for  he  hath 
no  pleasure  in  fools ;  pay  that  which  thou  hast 
vowed.  Better  is  it  that  thou  shouldest  not  vow, 
than  that  ihou  shouldest  vow  and  not  pay." 
Sister  W. — ,1  do  not  remember  having  that  part 
of  our  discipline  read  to  me  when  I  joined  the 
church  in  Xew  York  City.  I  was  convicted  at 
a  meeting,  and  raised  my  hand,  and  they  put  my 
name,  with  others,  upon  the  church  book.  But 
O,  this  condemnation  that  has  seized  hold  of  me 
since  these  things  have  been  spoken  of,  especi- 
ally the  mentioning  of  the  blood.  It  does  seem 
that  I  cannot  dance  any  more  tonight  and  live. 
Truly,  Mr.  Sherman,  what  a  strange  coinci- 
dence. I  myself  seem  to  be  crushed  down  to 
earth.  Perhaps  we  had  better  call  on  our  pastor. 
It  may  be  he  can  give  us  light,  and  hence  h~l]>. 
Will  it  be  convenient  for  you  to  accompany  me 
to  the  parsonage  tomorrow  afternoon  ?  Certain- 


28  STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY 

ly.  It  seems  that  I  too  must  be  helped  to  get 
from  under  this  awful  horror  which  has  taken 
possession  of  me.  At  what  hour  ?  Say  two 
thirty.  All  right.  I  will  now  see  my  hostess 
and  get  excused  for  this  evening.  I  mii- 
home.  Good  night,  ^Ii—  \V.  Good  night,  .Mr. 
Sherman. 

AT   THE   PARSONAGE. 

Two  thirty  came,  and  found  Miss  W.  and 
Eugene  Sherman  closeted  in  the  study  of  their 
pastor.  After  the  usual  greetings,  the  object  of 
their  visit  was  explained.  Their  pastor  wa-  a 
holy  man  of  God,  filled  with  the  Spirit,  and 
hence  followed  the  founder  of  the  M.  E.  Church 
in  his  teachings  when  he  exhorted  all  M.  E. 
preachers  to  preach  holiness  (perfect  love) 
constantly,  explicitly,  definitely,  and  to  give  re- 
peated invitations  to  their  congregations  to  come 
to  the  altar  and  seek  it.  Hence  they  were  in 
good  hands  as  concerning  their  spiritual  adviser. 
The  pastor  drew  his  chair  nearer  to  them,  and 
spoke  thus:  Beloved,  from  what  you  both  have 
told  me  concerning  the  dance  and  the  blood,  I 
perceive  thou  hast  departed  from  the  narrow 
way,  and  have  fallen  by  the  temptation  of  the 


STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY  29 

enemy  of  your  souls  into  sin.  God  in  his  word 
says,  "The  soul  that  sinneth,  it  shall  die."  He 
likewise  tells  us  in  Psa.,  9  :17 :  "The  wicked 
shall  be  turned  into  hell!"  These,  my  dears 
are  awful  facts.  But  as  awful  as  they  are, 
Messed  be  His  name  He  does  not  leave  you  with 
such  only.  He  gives  you  along  with  them 
blessed  promises  also.  Listen  while  I  repeat 
some  of  them.  "If  any  man  sin,  he  has  an 
advocate  with  the  Father  even  Jesus  Christ  the 
Righteous,"  and  Jesus  tells  you  at  this  moment, 
"( 'nine  unto  me  all  ye  that  are  weary  and  heavy 
laden  and  I  will  give  you  rest.  Take  my  yoke 
upon  you  and  learn  of  me,  and  you  shall  find 
rest  to  your  souls." 

This,  my  brother  and  sister  is  what,  as  I 
understand,  you  are  seeking  or  ought  to  seek: 
soul  rest.  They  both  heaved  a  sigh  of  ac- 
quiscence.  And  again  in  St.  John,  3  :3-5-7,  he 
says  to  you,  "Ye  must  be  born  again.  Ye  must 
be  born  of  water  and  of  the  Spirit."  Then  in 
Acts,  2 :  "Repent,  believe,  and  be  baptized  for 
the  remission  of  your  sins,"  and  then  follows  a 
promise  of  the  deeper  work  of  the  Spirit,  and 
"you  shall  receive  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost." 


30  STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY 

"He  that  cometh  unto  me  I    will  in  no  wise. 

cast  out." 

Listen  what  he  says  to  yon  in  Hosea  14-:l--t: 

"O  Isreal,  return  unto  the  Lord  thy  God ;  for 
thou  hast  fallen  by  thine  iniquity.  I  will  heal 
their  backslidings.  I  will  love  them  freely,  for 
my  anger  is  turned  away  from  him."  Brother, 
sister,  the  blood  which  you  asked  me  to  explain, 
as  mentioned  in  Ex.  29:20,  is  typical  of  the 
true  blood  of  our  Lord  and  Savior  Jesus  Christ 
which  was  shed  for  two  fundamental  conditions 
of  the  human  heart.  First,  for  our  regenera- 
tion; second,  for  inherited  sin.  That  is,  to  eradi- 
cate all  human  depravity  through  the  fall.  This 
is  called  in  the  Scriptures,  "The  more  abun- 
dant life."  John,  10:10:  Holiness,  sanctifica- 
tion,  perfection,  etc.,  etc.  But  as  the  Spirit 
shows  me  just  now,  the  second  proposition  is  imt 
applicable  to  your  present  case.  God,  speak- 
ing to  us  once  more,  says,  "It  is  a  fearful  thing 
to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  Lord,"  and  again, 
"The  wrath  of  God  abideth  on  the  children  of 
disobedience." 

Xow  I  apprehend  from  the  state  of  your 
mind  and  heart  that  this  wrath,  or  condemna- 
tion, is  troubling  you  now  through  some  neglect 


STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY  31 

of   duty,   or   by   some   wilful   transgression   of 
some  known  law  of  God ;  or  it  may  be  both. 

At  this  point  the  pastor  began  to  sing  in  soft, 
mellow  cadences : 

"What  can  wash  away  my  sins, 
Xothing  but  the  blood  of  Jesus. 
What  can  make  me  whole  again, 
Xothing  but  the  blood  of  Jesus. 

Oh  !  precious  is  the  flow, 
That  makes  me  white  as  snow, 
Xo  other  fount  I  know, 
Xothing  but  the  blood  of  Jesus." 

Before  the  chorus  was  finished  a  deep  down 
groan  as  of  anguish  of  heart  came  from  Mr. 
Sherman,  and  at  the  same  time  the  handker- 
chief of  Miss  W.  proved  inadequate  to  dry  the 
tears,  or  suppress  the  sighs. 

Again  the  pastor's  voice  was  heard  above  the 
moans  and  sighs,  "He  that  covers  his  sins  shall 
not  prosper,  but  he  that  confesseth,  and  for- 
saketh  them  shall  have  mercy."  Prov.  28 : 
Also,  "By  prayer  and  supplication  let  your  re- 
quest be  made  known  to  God."  Eugene  arosex 


32  STEPPING   ATONES   TO   GLORY 

and  making  an  effort  to  composure,  said  to  his 
pastor:  Brother,  I  have  read  somewhere  in 
tne  Bible,  it  seems  to  me  it  is  in  Jeremiah,  "My 
word  is  a  hammer,  and  shall  break  in  pi<-eo> 
the  stony  heart." 

The  words  that  you  have  just  quoted,  have 
proven  to  be  that  very  hammer  in  my  case  this 
afternoon.  I  must  say  that  before  I  came  to 
this  city,  I  was  a  drunken  M.  E.  church  mem- 
ber, and  in  other  respects  I  was  not  a  true 
Christian,  and  I  have  there  found  many  doing 
similar  things  which  I  was  doing,  such  as  danc- 
ing, card  playing,  drinking,  attending  fairs, 
circuses,  etc.,  but  I  want  to  be  forgiven  and  be- 
come a  true  Christian.  Will  you  please  pray 
for  me  ?  I  surely  will  my  dear  boy,  realizing 
how  true  that  promise  is,  "The  prayers  of  the 
righteous  man  availeth  much."  But,  that  my 
prayer  may  avail,  you  must  also  do  your  part. 
God  demands  of  you  repentance,  which  is  God- 
ly sorrow  for  sins  you  have  committed;  that 
kind  of  sorrow  which  need  not  be  repented  of; 
second,  faith  in  his  word  which  says  to  you, 
"He  is  a  rewarder  of  them  that  diligently  seek 
him;"  third,  "Be  baptized."  That  you  may 
act  intelligently,  but  let  me  say,  the  baptism 


STEPPING    STONES   TO   GLORY  33 

here  spoken  of  applies  to  the  penitent  sinner 
who  is  seeking  the  pardon  of  his  sins,  hence  the 
restoration  of  his  sonship.  As  Peter  tells  us,  "It 
is  not  the  putting  away  of  the  filth  of  the  flesh, 
but  the  answer  of  a  good  conscience  toward 
God."  It  is  the  seal  to  your  sonship,  after  you 
get  the  witness  of  the  Spirit,  which  witness  is 
a  conscious  knowledge  of  your  sins  forgiven. 
There  is  another  baptism  mentioned  in  God's 
word,  that  is  for  every  regenerated  child,  called 
the  baptism  with  the  Holy  Spirit.  This  bap- 
tism comes  after,  or  subsequent  to  the  restora- 
tion of  sonship.  We  may  speak  of  this  at  some 
future  time. 

But  what  seems  to  me  is  needed  at  this  time,- 
both  for  yourself  and  Miss  W—  — ,  is  un- 
conditional surrender  of  yourselves  to  God. 
Then  turning  to  Miss  W—  — ,  the  reverend 
gentleman  remarked,  of  course  you  heard  the 
instructions  given  Bro.  Eugene  here,  did  you 
not  ?  I  did,  and  it  seemed  as  though  you  were 
rather  directing  them  at  me.  Oh,  if  only  I 
were  a  true  Christian,  one  who  could  and  would 
shine  for  God ;  that  is,  I  would  like  to  be  a  real 
co-laborer  with  Jesus.  Are  both  of  you  will- 
ing to  enter  into  a  solemn  covenant  with  God, 


34  STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY 

here  and  now,  upon  His  conditions  ?  If  so 
come  and  give  me  your  hands,  that  God  may 
know  the  honesty  of  your  hearts. 

Thereupon  both  arose  and  extended  tin  Mi- 
hands,  the  arrow  of  conviction  still  working  its 
way  so  deeply  into  their  hearts  that  the  foun- 
tains of  the  head  poured  forth  another  shower 
from  the  windows  of  their  souls.  A  button 
was  touched  by  the  pastor.  The  door  wa? 
opened,  and  his  wife  with  Heaven  lighted  face 
and  heart  filled  to  over-flowing  with  the  love 
of  God  and  the  fullness  of  His  presence,  step- 
ped into  the  room.  After  formal  courtesies  and 
a  brief  explanation  of  the  situation,  they  all 
knelt  in  the  presence  of  him  who  said:  "Thou 
art  of  more  value  in  my  sight  than  many  spar- 
rows." 

The  pastor  pleaded  the  promises  of  the  Father 
and  the  Son  in  behalf  of  the  two  pentinents 
with  such  earnestness  and  eloquence,  which 
honesty  of  heart  knows  so  well  how  to  do,  that 
each  heart  began  to  feel  as  Jacob  of  old  did, 
"This  is  none  other  than  the  house  of  God,  and 
this  is  surely  the  gate  of  Heaven."  But  before 
lii>  wife  had  finished  bombarding  Heaven,  tears, 
prayers,  sobs  and  promises  were  being  poured 


STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY  35 

forth  from  the  hearts  and  souls  of  the  two 
seekers,  and  again  the  pastor  joined  in  the 
general  victory;  for  so  it  was.  A  sinbearing 
Jesus  met  two  seeking,  honest  pentinents,  and 
the  work  of  pardon  was  done. 

Eugene  was  the  first  to  get  to  his  feet  shout- 
ing glory  to  God  ?  While  Sister  W ,  still 

on  her  knees,  and  amid  her  tears  of  joy  at  the 
great  deliverance  from  her  sins,  broke  into  sing- 
ing: 

"'Tis  done;  the  great  transaction's  done; 

I  am  the  Lord's  and  He  is  mine; 
He  drew  me,  and  I  followed  on, 

Charmed  to  confess  the  voice  divine." 

And  when  she  began  the  chorus,  all  joined 
in  heartily  and  with  the  understanding  also. 
"Happy  day,  happy,"  etc. 

Well,  Brother  Sherman,  said  the  reverend 
what  has  the  good  Lord  done  for  you  ?  I  feel 
that  I  can  command  no  words  more  fitting  to 
express  the  work  of  God  in  my  heart  than  those 
coming  to  me  at  this  moment  from  the  Bible. 
"There  is  therefore  now  no  condemnation  to 
those  who  are  in  Christ  Jesus."  Praise  -the 


36  STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY 

Lord,  shouted  the  pastor's  wife.  And  Si-  <  r 
W—  — ,  has  the  Lord  done  anything  for  your 
soul  ?  Literally  springing  to  her  feet,  her  face 
a  sunlit  orb  of  glory,  she  began  to  speak  of  her 
freedom  from  guilt,  and  the  peace  within,  luit 
The  weight  of  glory  was  too  much  the  m;i-!cr 
of  the  flesh,  so  she  took  her  seat  weeping.  Then 
followed  a  general  hand-shaking  and  good-byes 
for  the  present,  followed  by  the  pastor  calling 
after  them,  there  is  more  for  you ;  go  on  to 
perfection. 

EXODUS   29:20   CONTINUED   OK   A   SAD,   .TOVI n, 

LETTER. 

One  year  and  six  months  had  i>;i--rl  into 
the  great  beyond,  when,  as  the  pastor  was  open- 
ing his  morning  mail,  there  came  a  nervmi-, 
loud  knock  on  his  study  door.  When  opening 
it  there  stood  Miss.  W—  — .  But  Oh!  what 
a  countenance.  Instead  of  only  eighteen  sln>rr 
months,  it  conveyed  to  his  mind  at  least  as 
many  years,  and  those  years  of  distress  and  an- 
guish. As  he  extended  his  hand  of  warm  wel- 
come, he  offered  her  the  most  comfortable  rock- 
ing chair  in  the  room.  Then  addressing  her 


STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY  37 

with  a  few  pleasant  remarks  as  to  his  beauti- 
ful blooming  flowers,  the  exquisite  voice  of  Rob- 
ert (his  canary  bird)  he  remarked:  Is  there 
any  general  news  this  morning?  By  this  time 
she  had  partly  found  her  voice.  Not  exactly 
in  the  newspapers.  Here  she  again  seemed 
to  falter.  Well,  sister,  how  does  your  soul  stand 
in  the  sight  of  God  this  morning  ?  At  this  her 
face  seemed  to  take  its  natural  hue  of  beauty, 
her  tongue  as  it  were  oiled  by  some  agency  with- 
in, as  what  followed  soon  showed  to  be  the  case. 
For  want  of  space  we  must  condense  the  conver- 
sation which  followed.  Since  Miss  W— 
an  I  Eugene  Sherman  had  been  born  of  God  in 
such  a  remarkable  manner,  they  had  attended 
a  holiness  camp  meeting  held  at  the  Chautau- 
qua  park  building,  and  both  being  born  of  the 
Spirit,  they,  of  course,  hungered  for  something 
more  spiritual.  They  both  remembered  their 
pastor  calling  after  them  saying:  There  is 
something  more  for  you,  go  on  to  perfection. 
And,  after  listening  to  a  number  of  those  Spirit- 
filled  sermons,  conviction  taking  hold  of  them 
for  this  "more  abundant  life,"  it  was  neither 
long  nor  difficult  for  them  to  find  the  Sanctifier, 
I.  Cor.,  1 :30,  which  they  did  in  God's  way. 


38  STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY 

receiving  the  witness  that  the  work  was 
and  they  knew  it. 

At  this  point  she  told  him  of  the  burning 
love  she  had  for  lost  souls,  and  her  call  to  In- 
dia, that  arrangements  were  already  c<'m- 
pleted  to  that  end  and  further,  she  was  not  go- 
ing alone.  Here  her  pastor  remarked,  of 
course  not,  the  promise  is,  "I  am  with  ther  al- 
ways, even  unto  the  end."  I  know,  but  that 
is  not  human  company.  Here  she  gave  a  pe- 
culiar shy  smile.  O,  I  see.  Yes,  brother,  I 
have  found  my  ideal  husband.  One  like  my- 
self only  more  so ;  one  who  counts  all  earthly 
things  but  dung  that  he  may  win  Christ  and 
lost  souls  to  God'  through  Him.  At  this  junc- 
ture it  was  the  pastor  who  had  a  demand  on  his 
handkerchief,  with  the  exclamation,  "All  Glory 
to  Jesus!"  Then  both  sang — 

I'll  go  where  you  want  me  to  go  dear  Lord, 
O'er  mountains  and  plains  and  seas, 
I'll  say  what  you  want  me  to  say,  dear  Lord 
I'll  be  what  you  want  me  to  be." 

Beloved,  was  this  whar  you  called  on  me  this 
morning  for?  Xo,  this  was  not  the  prime  <ih- 


STEPPING    STONES   TO   GLORY  39 

jeer  of  my  being  here  at  this  time.  And  again 
her  face  which  a  few  moments  before  was  so 
heavenly  sunlit,  began  to  take  on  somewhat  of 
that  sad,  distressed  cast  it  had  on  entering  the 
room.  Drawing  a  letter  from  her  portmanteau, 
she  remarked,  "That  will  explain  why  I  am 
here.  I  received  it  from  Eugene  Sherman's 
mother  last  night."  The  postmark  told  it  wras 
from  New  York  City.  It  contained  some  six- 
teen pages  of  closely  written  words,  which  space 
will  not  permit,  to  give  at  length.  It  spoke  of 
a  Christian  mother's  heart  bounding  with  de- 
light over  the  news  of  her  boy's  conversion,  and 
then  further  on,  of  the  second  work  of  grace. 
How  for  awhile  he  had  power  given  him  of  God 
to  introduce  souls  to  Jesus,  etc.,  etc. 

Then  she  wrote  how  Eugene  was  at  first  in- 
fluenced by  a  preacher  to  not  be  quite  so  enthus- 
iastic about  his  religion;  live  it  without  testi- 
fying so  much  to  the  words  sanctification,  per- 
fection, etc.  No  man  could  be  as  perfect  as 
God,  and  further,  people  were  watching  him 
(was  not  God  also  watching  him  ?)  and  they 
thought  that  lie  was  boasting,  making  himself 
better  than  other  people,  etc.  Eugene  thought, 
of  course,  a  preacher  ought  to  know  bevror  than 


40  STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY 

he  did  so  toned  down.  Then  he  became  careless 
as  to  attending  the  means  of  grace.  Finally  lie 
joined  one  or  two  of  the  lodges,  then  took  to 
his  old  habit  of  drinking,  and,  last  Friday 
morning  his  lifeless  body  was  found  in  the 
canal.  Then  followed  the  old  story  of  her 
broken  heart,  lamentations,  pleadings,  etc., 
with  which  we  will  not  afflict  our  readers 

How  true  the  never  failing  word  of  God  hos 
again  proven.  "He  that,  being  often  reproved, 
hardeneth  his  neck,  shall  be  destroyed  suddenly, 
and  that  without  remedy."  Prov.  29.  "Let 
him  that  thinketh  he  standeth,  take  heed  lest 
he  falleth."  I.  Cor.,  10:12.  "He  that  turneth 
away  his  ear  from  hearing  the  law,  even  his 
prayer  shall  be  abomination."  Prov.,  28  :9. 

"Arm  me  with  jealous  care, 

As  in  thy  sight  to  live, 
And  O,  thy  servant,  Lord  prepare 

A  strict  account  to  give. 
Help  me  to  watch  and  pray, 

And  on  thyself  rely; 
Assured,  if  I  my  trust  betray, 

I  shall  forever  die." 


STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY  41 


3From  iHg  Journal,  190L 


The  Iowa,  Story  county,  fair  commenced 
August  fourteenth  and  closed  the  sixteenth. 
After  much  prayer  in  regard  to  the  coming  fair 
ami  the  sins  of  the  city  generally,  my  wife  and 
jiiy-df  were  conversing  as  to  the  best  method- 
of  electioneering  for  Jesus  during  its  contin- 
uance. Though  previous  to  this  by  one  week, 
the  dear  Lord  had  already  begun  operations  in 
that  direction,  which  I  will  here  state,  so  that 
the  leadings  of  the  Holy  Spirit  .may  be  fol- 
lowed more  systematically.  Like  Philip  in 
the  case  of  the  Eunich,  the  Spirit  caught  me  up 
and  away  down  town.  I  went  to  the  post  office. 
Then  for  a  few  minutes  I  listened  to 
a  very  nice  gramophone,  a  beautiful 
combination  of  science  and  architecture. 
Then  the  Spirit  had  me  away  to  another  part 
of  the  city,  but  brought  us  back  to  the  gramo- 
phone just  as  it  began  to  declaim  with  beauti- 
ful enunciation  the  Twenty-third  Psalm,  end- 
ing with  the  Lor'.'-  prayer  in  a  very  impres- 


42  STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY 

sive  manner.  It  went  to  the  writer's  heart. 
And,  with  a  prayer  to  our  Heavenly  Father  to 
glorify  Himself  before  the  assembly  of  sinners, 
we  offered  the  proprietor  of  the  instrument  five 
cents  to  repeat  it,  which  he  did  to  the  glory  of 
God,  as  can  be  seen  if  one  has  an  eye  to  what 
followed. 

Listen  to  his  words.  "Here  is  a  man  who  has 
given  me  five  cents  himself  to  repeat  the  Twen- 
ty-third Psalm  and  the  Lord's  prayer,  thus  call- 
ing special  attention  to  the  word  of  God.  Then 
taking  our  seat  on  the  curb  stone,  with  bowed 
head,  while  that  inanimate  instrument  was  ex- 
horting sinners,  telling  them  what  that  loving, 
powerful,  impartial  God  of  all  Grace  had  done 
for  David  in  restoring  his  soul,  placing  him  in 
green  pastures,  running  his  cup  over,  etc. ; 
also  declaring  what  His  will  was  to  them,  I 
was  likewise  entreating  Father  as  their  inter- 
cessor. 

The  two  pieces  being  finished,  and  the  prayer 
we  trust  having  reached  the  throne,  we  wended 
our  way  homeward  with  a  light  heart. 

"Singing,  I  go  alone  life's  road, 
Praising  the  Lord,  praising  the  Lord; 


STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY  43 

Singing  as  I  go  along  life's  road, 
Fore  esus  has  lifted  my  load." 

That  evening  wife  and  myself  attended  our 
Tuesday  evening  holiness  prayer  meeting.  The 
fire  fell  as  usual,  bless  God !  One  sister  in  her 
testimonv  subsequent  to  our  few  remarks  as  to 
the  gramophone  praising  God,  said,  Brother 
Codling  has  settled  a  question  that  was  troub- 
ling me.  I  was  undecided  as  to  cooking  for  the 
people  at  the  fair ;  and  at  the  same  time  glorify 
my  Heavenly  Father.  -After  the  meeting  was 
closed,  and  while  on  our  way  home,  suggestions 
were  made  as  to  the  sisters  distributing  tracts, 
cards  containing  scripture  texts ;  also  texts  in 
larg  type  hung  about  the  cook  houses,  etc.  But 
God  was  only  permitting  "His  peculiar  peo- 
ple to  borrow  jewelry  preparatory  to  a  greater, 
grander  work  which  He  was  to  perform  at  the 
Red  Sea."  The  sister  did  not  use  those  large 
type  scripture  texts,  such  as  "Prepare  to  meet 
thy  God."  Amos,  4:12.  "Keep  out  of  hell!" 
Psalms,  9 :17.  "You  must  be  born  again." 
John,  3  :7.  "Jesus  saves  if  you  quit  sinning." 
Matt.,  1:21. 


44  STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY 

The  question  now  with  wife  and  I  was,  what 
shall  be  done  with  these  large  type  cards  al- 
ready printed?  In  what  public  place  can  we 
put  them  that  lost  souls  may  be  won  to  Jesu>  '. 
The  postmaster  will  undoubtedly  refuse;  the 
storekeepers,  as  a  rule,  have  no  spare  conspicu- 
ous place  for  such  things;  the  free  hacks  (for 
Satan)  also  the  carriages  were,  of  course,  tofc 
busy  and  in  fact  were- licensed  to  do  other  work. 
But  while  we  were  looking  about  for  the  "jaw 
bone,"  the  Spirit  of  Elijah's  God  came  upon 
us  and  said  in  unmistakable  language,  "Where 
is  your  buggy  ?"  All  glory  -to  Jesus !  The 
problem  was  solved.  Our  buggy  was  soon  deco- 
rated with  God's  own  words  of  warning,  in- 
struction and  promises,  and  on  either  side  of 
the  family  pony  hung  a  placard  in  glowing  let- 
ters, "Gospel  Wagon."  Thus  the  dear  Lord 
(as  He  always  d'oes)  once  more  verified  His 
promise,  "He  that  honoreth  Me,  him  will  I 
honor,"  by  permitting  us  to  run  the  first  gospel 
wagon  in  Xevada,  Iowa. 

And  while  the  thoughtless,  giddy,  motley 
crow;l — did  I  say  motley  ?  Well,  so  it  was,  lie- 
cause  in  its  ranks  could  be  seen  the  active  back- 
slidden preacher,  that  church  member  who 


STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY  -  45 

God  sick  at  His  stomach.  See  Rev. 
3:15-16,  the  blasphemer,  the  drunkard,  and  the 
women  riding"  in  the  wagon  (what  the  boys  in 
the  army  termed  hell  on  wheels),  were  surging 
to  and  from  the  fair  grounds,  the  little  big  gos- 
pel wagon  with  its  freight  of  holy  literature,  the 
Holy  Bible  and  the  living  Christ,  the  whole  sur- 
rounded by  a  cordon  of  guarding  angels,  for 
two  whole  days  moved  on  its  mission  of  love. 
Hallelujah  to  God  and  the  Lamb  forever, 
Amen  ! 

Father  in  Heaven,  please  help  us  to  pen  a 
few  of  thy  words  to  those  dear  souls  who  are 
weak  in  the  faith.  Beloved  reader,  if  you  will 
prayerfully  turn  to  and  read  Psalms  1  :l-2,  it 
says,  ''Blessed  is  the  man  that  walketh  not  in 
the  council  of  the  ungodly,  nor  standeth  in  the 
way  of  sinners,  nor  sitteth  in  the  seat  of  the 
scornful.  But  his  delight  is  in  the  law  of  the 
Lord  ;  and  in  his  law  doth  he  meditate  day  and 
night."  The  first  important  fact  to  be  observed 
is  the  position  which  Tie  wants  His  children  to 
maintain:  First,  walking;  secon,  standing; 
third,  sitting.  These  are  the  three  great  stop- 
ping stones  to  spiritual  destruction.  A  hint  to 
the  wise  is  sufficient.  First,  we  cease  to  walk 


46  STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY 

after  lost  souls  and  other  duties;  our  light 
does  not  shine.  See  Matthew,  5 :16.  "Let  your 
light  so  shine,"  etc.  Second,  we  stand.  The 
man  who  stands  still  in  winter  on  those  north- 
ern prairies  freezes  to  death.  Third,  sitting. 
Then  our  spiritual  light  goes  out,  followed  by 
God's  "Woe  unto  those  who  are  at  ease  in  Zion." 
The  reader  will  please  notice  that  each  and 
every  attitude  is  a  negation,  preceded  by  not 
(nor)  as  to  the  first,  the  emphasis  is  not  to  be 
placed  so  much  upon  the  walking,  as  it  is  on 
following  or  rather  imbibing  their  ungodly 
council.  Because  as  we  read  in  John,  17,  where 
Jesus  is  praying  for  His  regenerated  children, 
He  says,  "I  pray  not  that  thou  shouldest  take 
them  out  of  the  world';  but  that  thou  wouldst 
keep  them  from  the  evils  of  the  world."  (The 
above-mentioned  ungodly  council,  etc.)  And 
again  as  to  this  standing,  Avhich  literally  means 
preventing. 

There  are  many  ways  of  preventing  sinners 
or  lost  souls  from  receiving  salvation  through 
our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  which  our 
limited  space  prevents  us  from  itemizing  at  any 
length.  One  way  to  prevent  their  salvation  is 
by  our  example.  Remember  that,  as  a  rule,  sin- 


STEPPING   STONES   TO    GLORY  47 

ners  will  not  or  do  not  read  the  word  of  God, 
the  Holy  Bible.  Or  if  they  do,  it  is  in  the 
wrong  spirit,  the  spirit  of  argument  or  criti- 
cism. But  they  will,  without  an  exception  read 
our  life,  which  should  be  their  Bible,  a  copy  of 
its  author  the  Holy  Ghost.  An  illustration: 
If  a  band  of  lewd  and  Christless  human  beings 
of  both  sexes,  from  the  wild  plains  of  the  West 
and  the  brothels  of  our  large  cities  set  up  their 
tents  of  iniquity  in  our  town  under  the  guise 
of  menagerie  and  circus  combined,  etc.,  and 
that  sinful  neighbor  of  yours  turns  his  or  her 
head  and  finds  a  brother  Methodist,  or  a  sister 
Presbyterian  standing  at  his  side  in  that  sin- 
ful institution,  the  thought  arises  in  their  minds 
I  am  not  so  bad  after  all.  If  their  religion 
teaches  them  to  come  into  such  a  place  as  this, 
and  their  religion  gets  them  into  Heaven,  then 
I  am  as  well  off  as  they  are,  because  we  stand 
upon  the  same  footing;  we  are  doing  the  same 
thing.  What  is  the  use  of  my  trying  to  reform  ? 
And,  so  if  he  should  drop  dead,  hell  is  his  doom 
and  his  eternal  abode. 

There  are  only  two  places  mentioned  in  the 
Bible — Heaven,  hell.  Reader,  will  you  please 
lay  this  book  down  just  now,  long  enough  to 


48  STEPPING   STOXES   TO   GLORY 

read  Eze.,  33,  the  whole  chapter,  l»ut   m<  \ 
pecially   verses   seven    ami    eight    which    I    will 
here  quote:    "So  thou,  ()  son  of  man,  I  ha\     - 
thee  a  watchman  unto  the  house  of  Israel :  Then-- 
fore thou  shalt  hear  the  word  at  my  mouth,  and 
warn   them  from   me.      When   I   say   unto   the 
wicker!  man,  thou  shalt  surely  die  if  thou  dost 
not  speak  to  warn  the  wicked   from   his   way; 
that  wicked  man  shall  die  in  his  iniquity:  hut 
his  blood  I  will  require  at  thine  hand." 

Xow,  for  the  sake  of  brevity,  we  would  -im- 
ply say,  the  same  hypothesis  of  reasoning  will 
explain  the  sitting  attitude.  But  my  friend  at 
my  left  says  do  we  not  sit  in  church  and  even 
in  the  same  pew  with  sinners  of  almost  every 
type  (  Yes,  my  dear  brother,  but  we  must  learn 
to  discriminate  in  God's  word  concerning  the 
prepositions;  and  in  fact  all  the  small  qualify- 
ing words ;  not  forgetting  though  they  of  t hem- 
Delves  be  small,  sometimes  they  contain  the  iii-T 
of  the  whole  chapter.  This  we  can 
readily  see  when  looking  through  sanc- 
tified eyes  at  St.  John  15:7.  This 
is  the  golden  key  which  unlocks  the  whol" 
Bible  to  effectiveness;  and  even  Heaven  itself. 
Ai^ain  for  just  one  short  minute  let  us  examine 
those  two  small  prepositions  "for"  and  "of"  as 


STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY  49 

used  in  the  sacred  scriptures.  'Flic  author  of 
the  Bible,  the  Holy  Spirit,  speaking  through 
Paul,  Phil.,  4:6,  tells  us  to  be  careful  "for" 
nothing.  And  in  the  tenth  verse  of  the  same 
chapter  says,  your  care  "of"  me. 

Looking  through  worldly  eyes,  some  might 
say,  here  is  another  Bible  contradiction ;  the 
tenth  verse  contradicting  the  sixth,  when  in 
reality  such  statements  are  only  the  mirror 
which  reflects  their  ignorant  and  careless  man- 
ner of  handling  God's  word.  The  word  "for" 
in  this  connection  signifies  God's  work;  and 
the  word  "of"  the  work  of  man.  Jesus  Him- 
self in  Matth.,  0:25-26,  teaches  this  in  a  very 
clear  manner.  "Therefore  I  say  unto  you  take 
no  thought,  "for"  your  life,  what  ye  shall  eat, 
or  what  ye  shall  drink;  nor  yet  "for"  your 
body  what  ye  shall  put  on.  Is  not  the  life 
more  than  meat,  and  the  body  more  than  rai- 
ment? Behold  the  fowls  of  the  air,  for  they 
so\\-  not,  neither  do  they  reap,  nor  gather  into 
barns ;  yet  your  Heavenly  Father  feedeth 
them." 

He  does  this  work.  Do  you  believe  it  ? 
Hereafter  will  you,  dear  one,  who  may  be 
weak  in  the  faith  just  at  this  point,  trust  Him 


50  STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY 

to  do  His  part?  We  might  cite  many  other 
texts  of  Scripture  as  proof  positive,  but  one  ci- 
tation for  each  word  must  suffice  on  account  of 
space.  For  the  word  "of,"  please  see  II.  Cor., 
11 :28,  where  Paul,  after  enumerating  his 
afflictions,  trials,  whippings,  perils,  hunger  and 
so  on,  says,  "Besides  these  I  have  care  'of 
all  the  churches."  To  simplify  this,  suffer  us 
to  resort  to  an  object  lesson,  knowing  that  all 
the  great  educators  of  this  country,  and  also 
of  Europe,  agree  that  those  things  which  are 
conveyed  to  the  brain  through  the  organ  of 
sight,  has  a  more  lasting  impression  than  by 
any  other  means.  Lesson :  See  that  beautiful 
meadow  throwing  its  soft,  green,  dew-bespang- 
led carpet  over  mother  earth.  Behold  yonder 
field  of  golden  wheat  nodding  in  the  morning 
zephyrs  and  laughing  among  the  rainbow  rays 
of  the  great  luminary  of  earth.  That  happy, 
merry,  frolicsom  lamb,  as  it  gambols  by  its 
mother's  side.  The  birds  among  the  branches 
are  singing  their  praises  to  Him  who  doeth  all 
things  well. 

But,  what  if  the  great  God  of  Heaven  should 
cease  to  care  "for"  these  things  by  .shutting  up 
the  Heaven  that  there  be  no  rain ;  no  ray  of 


STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY  51 

sun  for  one  short  year,  what  would  be  the  con- 
sequences ?  Death  would  be  the  inevitable  re- 
sult. By  this,  we  can  see  God's  part.  He  car- 
eth  "for"  us.  Man's  part  is  the  care  "of" 
those  things.  Man  mows  the  grass,  he  reaps 
the  wheat,  he  husbands  them  all. 

Again:  Yonder  is  a  specimen  of  God's 
most  noble  work ;  that  young  man  or  young 
wToman,  full  of  health  and  vigor.  God  is  pro- 
viding the  air  which  they  breath,  the  water 
they  drink,  etc.  He  cares  "for"  them  in  this 
respect.  But,  if  they  sit  in  that  cold  draft 
while  they  are  sweating  profusely  and  are 
stricken  down  with  pneumonia,  or  if  they  care- 
lessly or  wilfully  get  into  that  water  which  God 
intended  as  a  blessing  "for"  them  and  lose  their 
lives,  who  is  to  blame?  Their  part  was  the 
taking  care  "of"  themselves  by  wearing  suit- 
able clothing,  avoiding  the  cold  draft  and  keep- 
ing out  of  the  water.  May  we  not  draw  a  spir- 
itual lesson  from  these  two  small  words  "for" 
and  "of?" 

Xote. — The  writer  may  be  "in"  an  insurance 
office,  but  he  is  not  one  "of"  its  members. 

Almighty  and  eternal  God,  the  Father  of  all 
Grace,  we  pray  thee  in  Jesus'  name,  let  thy  ben- 


52  STEPPING   STONES  TO   GLORY 

edietion  of  love  and  light  rest  upon  him  or  her 
who  shall  read  this,  to  thy  glory.     Amen  ! 

Jesus,  the  name  that  charms  our  fears, 
That  Lids  our  sorrows  cease; 

'Tis  music  in  the  sinners'  ear-. 
'Tis  life  and  health  and  peace. 

He  breaks  the  power  of  canceled  sin, 

He  sets  the  prisoners  free; 
His  blood  can  make  the  foulest  clean ; 

His  blood   avails  for  me. 

He  speaks,  and  listening  to  His  voice, 

Xew  life  the  dead  receive; 
The  mournful  broken  hearts  rejoice; 

The  humble  poor  believe. 


STEPPING   STONES   TO    GLORY  53 


310 


Time  is  a  measured  portion  of  duration. 
\Ve  are  told  that  Heaven  shall  pass  away,  that 
earth  shall  pass  away,  but  my  word  shall  not 
]i,i—  away.  These  are  the  words  of  God  Him- 
self, who  says,  "I  change  not."  But  this  word 
tells  us  that  there  will  be  a  period  when  the 
angel  of  the  Lord  shall  stand  with  one  foot 
upon  the  earth  and  the  other  foot  upon  the  sea, 
and  proclaim  that  time  shall  be  no  more.  How 
came  this  so  ?  Because  God,  Jehovah,  spake 
duration  or  immensity  into  existence  and  fills 
it  with  his  presence.  Whereas  men  divided  up 
a  portion  of  that  into  seconds,  minutes,  hours, 
days,  weeks,  months,  years,  etc.,  for  his  own 
convenience,  and  called  it  time.  Yes,  change 
is  written  upon  all  sublunary  things.  Nations 
arc  changing  at  God's  bidding.  In  fact  the 
political  geography  of  the  whole  world  has  been 
changed  within  the  very  short  space  of  the  half 
of  one  century.  Without  going  into  detail,  the 
same  truth  is  well  known  to  all  alike.  Neigh- 


54  STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY 

borhoods  are  depopulated  and  replenished ;  it 
may  be  perchance  by  a  people  of  a  foreign 
tongue.  A  large  family  of  children  are  raised, 
it  might  be,  through  long  years  of  toil  and  pain, 
and  sleepless  nights  spent  in  watching  or 
prayer  for  this  afflicted  one,  or  that  rebellion* 
prodigal ;  when,  in  a  few  short  months  mother 
has  shed  her  last  crystal  tear  of  affection,  has 
borne  her  last  excrutiating  nain ;  she  has  placed 
her  loving,  soothing  hand  upon  the  feverish 
brow  of  her  husband,  son,  or  Daughter.  She 
has  passed  to  where  the  wicked  cease  to  trouble, 
and  where  the  wearv  are  at  rest. 


THE     FAMILY     IS     CHANGED. 

Some  are  married;  the  little  prattling  chil- 
dren are  given  away  to  strangers  and  stranger's 
homes.  O  God !  my  Father,  please  take  care 
of  the  motherless  for  Jesus'  sake.  Amen !  The 
writer  knows  to  his  sorrow  what  it  is  to  be  an 
orphan  in  a  new,  wild  country.  But  communi- 
ties, families,  and  individuals  are  not  only 
changing  residences ;  but  that  which  is  of  vastly 
more  importance,  character  and  name.  It  is 
God's  plan  not  only  that  our  characters  are 


STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY  55 

transformed  by  his  divine  manipulations,  but 
he  desires,  and  does  (if  we  permit  him  so  to 
do),  change  our  name  likewise.  And,  after 
the  change,  He,  (and  also  the  "°op]p">  "T:I! 
call  us  by  that  new  name.  Does  the  reader  ask 
why?  If  we  turn  to  St.  Luke,  6:12-14,  the 
word  itself  explains  why.  By  reading  down  to 
verse  nineteen,  we  see  that  they  had  a  big  job 
on  hand1  that  day,  and  it  needed  special  prepa- 
ration, as  we  can  see  by  Jesus  praying  all  night 
until  daylight.  The  disciples  had  not  yet  re- 
ceived their  Pentecost.  As  yet  they  had  not 
resurrected  one  dead  soul.  This  requires 
greater  power  than  to  perform  what  they,  at 
that  time,  were  commissioned  to  do.  St.  Luke, 
9  :l-2  says,  "Then  he  called  his  twelve  disci- 
ples together  and  gave  them  power  and  author- 
ity over  all  devils,  and  to  cure  diseases.  And 
he  sent  them  to  preach  the  kingdom  of  God, 
and  to  heal  the  sick."  They  were  at  this  time 
regenerated  children  of  God,  without  their 
Pentecost ;  and  Jesus  gave  them  power  to  per- 
form those  things  mentioned  above  for  special 
occasions,  while  he  was  with  them  in  the  flesh, 
as  he  did  in  John,  20:22.  He  in  that  case 


56  STEPPING   STONES  TO   GLORY 

breathed  on  them  the  Holy  Ghost  for  tempo- 
rary grace  as  will  be  mentioned  further  on. 

But  to  the  point.  It  is  Goer's  plan  to  per- 
form His  will  through  human  instrumentali- 
ties. And  when  He  has  a  great  work  to  per- 
form, He  selects  and  qualifies  them  fur  that 
work  in  both  character  and  also  name.  In 
Abram's  case  the  name  Abram  was  changed  to 
that  of  Abraham,  Jacob  to  that  of  Israel,  Si- 
mon to  that  of  Peter,  Saul  to  Paul,  sinner  to 
that  of  Christian,  Christian  to  that  of  "The 
Holy  People."  For  the  latter,  see  Isa..  U-2:\->, 
"And  they  shall  call  them,  the  holy  people,  the 
redeemed  of  the  Lord;  and  thou  shalt  be  called 
sought  out,  a  city  not  forsaken." 

Let  the  reader  please  notice  specially  tlm-e 
words  commencing  with  a  capital  letter:  the 
holy,  the  redeemed,  sought  out,  a  city,  the  im- 
portance of  which  will  be  better  under- 
when  we  bear  in  mind  that  all  through  (1"  '- 
w««rd  the' Holy  Spirit  is  written  S,  while  rhe 
spirit  of  man  is  written,  s,  These  names  did 
nor  satisfy  Deity;  neither  were  they  appropri- 
ate to  the  work  assigned  them.  Jacob,  the 
worldly  trickster,  became  Nrael,  the  one  that 
prevailed  with  God.  Simon  the  vacillating,  im- 


STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY  57 

petuous,  timid,  denier  of  his  master,  to  Peter, 
whom  the  very  gates  of  hell  could  not  prevail 
against,  (after  he  received  his  Pentecost).  Saul, 
the  persecuting,  murderous  church  member,  to 
Paul,  the  greatest  apostle  that  ever  walked  God's 
green  footstool,  or  stood  before  kings;  sinner, 
who  is  at  this  very  moment  standing  on  the 
trap-door  of  hell,  to  that  Christian  who  is  now 
a  king  and  priest,  awaiting  that  promised  man- 
sion above,  which  Jesus  is  now  frescoing,  and 
embellishing;  that  Christian  with  the  carnal 
mind  (the  enemy  of  God;  an;l  also  of  him  or 
herself),  still  remaining  in  the  heart,  making 
him  ineffective  as  a  soul  winner,  to  that  of 
the  holy  man  or  woman  of  God  having  power 
for  service.  Please  read  the  promise  carefully 
and  prayerfully.  You  shall  have  power,  "after" 
the  Holy  Ghost  is  come  upon  you.  Acts  1 :8. 
But  to  stop  here,  with  only  the  name  changed, 
would  be  only  to  imitate  you  weak,  hungry, 
thirsty  traveler  upon  the  great  Sahara  desert 
of  life,  who  refuses  to  advance  and  seek  the 
oasis  of  eternal  life  which  lies  but  a  few  miles 
ahead.  The  heart  must  be  changed.  This  is 
what  Jesus  taught,  and  demanded  of  j^icodem- 
us  in  St.  John,  3:3-r)-7,  where  He  (Jesus) 


58  STEPPING    STONES   TO   GLORY 

taught  him  the  necessity  of  regeneration.  Ye 
must  be  born  again,  this  time  it  is  to  be  of  the 
Holy  Spirit.  Oh  sinner!  as  you  value  your 
soul,  defer  its  salvation  not  one  minute  longer, 
all  things  are  now  ready ;  the  blood  has  been 
shed,  Jesus  has  died  and  rose  again  for  your 
justification.  He  is  showing  his  Father  his 
hands,  his  feet,  his  side,  as  your  intercessor; 
pleading  that  He  will  spare  the  barren  fig  tree 
yet  a  little  longer.  Oh  beloved,  perishing  lost 
soul,  whom  I  have  already  learned  to  love,  I 
too  am  standing  between  you  and  Jesus,  and 
He  is  standing  between  myself  and  His  Father, 
beseeching  you  in  Jesus'  name,  to  repent  and 
forsake  your  sins,  and  come  and  cast  in  your 
lot  with  the  blood  washed. 


Parents:  The  Lord  God  of  Heaven  is  talk- 
ing to  you  out  from  the  skies.  "Hear,  O  Chris- 
tians, the  Lord  our  God  is  our  Lord,  and  thou 
shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  "all"  thine 
heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul,  and  with  all  thy 
might.  Do  you  ?  And:  these  words  which  I 
command  thee  this  day,  shall  be  in  thy  heart 


STEPPING   STONES   TO    GLORY  59 

(not  your  head).  And  thou  shalt  teach  them 
diligently  to  thy  children  (will  you?),  and 
shall  talk  of  them  when  thou  sitteth  in  thine 
house  (do  you?)  and  when  thou  walkest  by 
the  way,  and  when  thou  liest  down,  and  when 
thou  riseth  up.  (Will  you?) 

The  following  patent  lock  will  either  fasten 
you  out,  or  in  Heaven.  "For  if  ye  forgive  men 
their  trespasses,  your  Heavenly  Father  will 
also  forgive  you.  But  if  ye  forgive  not  men 
their  trespasses,  neither  will  your  Father  for- 
give your  trespasses."  St.  Matthew,  6:14-15. 


60  STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY 


3usttfiratum  (nntn). 

THE  SPAWN    (»F  SATAN. 

"I  beheld  Satan  as  lightning  fall  from 
Heaven."  Luke,  10:18.  These  are  the  words 
of  Jesus.  They  are  immutable,  unchanging. 
There  is  no  such  thing  as  dodging  in  this  cas& 
Satan  is  a  spirit.  He  is  a  mighty  and  a  prom- 
inent spirit  as  we  see  his  name  printed  in  the 
Holy  Scriptures.  The  Holy  Spirit  is  distin- 
guished by  a  capital  S.  And  Jesus  saw  him 
fall  from  Heaven.  (We  must  boil  this  talk 
down,  because  there  is  subject  matter  enough 
in  this  alone  to  fill  a  book.)  By  searching  the 
Scriptures,  we  understand  that  all  thing>  in 
Heaven  are  pure,  holy  and  must  contain  the 
image  of  God.  Hence  no  baboons,  apes,  snakes 
or  serpents  can  exist  there.  This  spirit,  then, 
was  not  a  serpent  at  the  time  when  Jesns  -a\\ 
him  cast  out  of  Heaven  and  fall  to  the  earth, 
but  undoubtedly  looked  somewhat  like  those 
men  (angels)  who  visited  Abraham,  Lot,  etc. 
God's  noble  workmanship  in  humanity,  as 


STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY  61 

Ada  in  and  Eve  were.  They  could  talk  with 
each  other,  etc.  Xow  this  old!  cunning  arch 
traitor  had  it  in  his  heart  to  ruin  and  capture 
the  whole  world  of  human  beings  through  re- 
venge to  God.  So  he  approached  Eve  with  his 
hesr  demeanor  as  shown  by  several  portions  of 
(rod's  word,  and  the  outcome  was  her  ruin.  She 
puts  it  in  a  very  mild  form  while  relating  the 
fact  to  God,  and  says,  "The  serpent  (treating 
him  as  some  young  lady  at  this  present  time, 
under  similar  circumstances  would  say,  the 
wretch,  the  viper,  etc.  beguiled  me."  Oil,  that 
one  word  "beguiled"  speaks  volumes  so  to 
speak.  But,  the  foul,  devilish  deed  was  accomp- 
lished. And  through  it  the  world  must  suffer. 
But  notice  one  thing,  Satan  no  more  deceived 
them  as  a  handsome  man,  for  God  cursed  him. 
and  from  that  time  on  he  wriggled  and  twisted 
himself  along  the  ground  upon  his  belly,  and 
has  ever  since  been  known,  as  Eve  christened 
him.  "the  old  serpent." 

But  the  death  blow  was  struck.  So  God, 
who  is  love,  originated  the  only  plan,  or 
scheme,  that  could  have  been  framed,  and  that, 
too,  by  the  mind  of  God  and  still  be  just  to 
Himself,  by  offering  up  his  only  Son.  Xo  WOK- 


62  STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY 

der  we  read  in  St.  John,  3:16.  "God  so  loved 
the  world  that  He  gave  His  only  begotten  Son, 
that  whosoever  believeth  in  Him  should  not 
perish,  but  have  everlasting  life."  God,  the 
Father,  originated  the  scheme.  Jesus,  the  Son, 
furnished  the  means,  and  the  Holy  Spirit,  as 
the  executive  of  the  god-hood,  applies  the  reme- 
dies. This  shows  us  how  our  sonship  was  lost, 
and  until  it  is  restored,  we  are  no  more  related 
to  God  than  the  tree,  the  flower,  the  fish,  or 
the  horse,  etc.  He  created  these  as  well  as  us. 
These  were  never  His  sons  and  daughters.  We 
were.  We  lost  our  sonship  and  have  become 
only  His  creatures,  with  the  addition  of  the 
carnal  mind,  the  enemy  of  God,  through  the 
spawn  of  the  devil. 

Sinners,  therefore,  have  a  natural  bent  to 
serve  him,  their  father.  Jesus  Himself  told 
those  devilish  Pharisees  in  the  church,  ye  are 
the  children  of  the  devil.  For  to  be  carnally 
minded  is  death,  but  to  be  spiritually  minded, 
is  life  and  peace.  Because  the  carnal  mind  is 
enmity  against  God,  for  it  is  not  subject  to  the 
law  of  God,  neither  indeed  can  be.  So  the  con- 
sequence is,  the  sinner  leans  toward  that  devil- 
ish influence  within,  as  readily  as  the  piece  of 


STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY  63 

steel  seeks  the  magnet.  He  (Satan)  is  the  sin- 
ner's master.  "Know  ye  not,  that  to  whom  ye 
yield  yourselves  to  obey,  his  servants  ye  are  to 
whom  ye  obey,  whether  of  sin  unto  death,  or  of 
obedience  unto  righteousness  ?"  Rom.,  6 :16. 

This  sad  condition  remains  until  the  Holy 
Spirit  convicts  us  of  the  necessity  of  a  new 
birth,  or  change  of  heart.  This,  then,  brings 
us  down  to  the  work  of  justification.  Isa., 
55:6-7,  admonishes  us  thus:  "Let  the  wicked 
forsake  his  way,"  etc.  This  forsaking  of  sin 
is  done  at  the  time  of  obedience  to  conviction. 
•When  we  are  willing  to  quit  sinning,  we  at 
once  surrender  ourselves  to  God,  and  at  that 
moment  God  for  Christ's  sake  absolutely  par- 
dons us,  and!  there  and  then  casts  our  sins  (act- 
ual) behind  his  back,  as  far  as  the  east  is  from 
the  west.  (Sinner,  that  being  the  case,  how 
far  would  you  have  to  go  to  find  even  one  of 
your  sins.  Can  you  tell  me  ?)  "And  I  will  re- 
member them  against  thee  no  more  forever." 
How  long  is  that  ?  It  is  until  just  that  minute 
in  which  you  go  to  sinning  again.  Hence  God 
in  His  love  has  cautioned  us  so  many  times 
and  in  so  many  ways  in  His  word  to  be  on  our 
guard.  He  says,  child  (for  bear  in  mind  that 


64  STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY 

when  regenerated  we  are  now  Hi-  sons  ami 
daughters),  I  want  yon  to  shun  the  very  ap- 
pearance of  evil.  I.  The-.  .'»:I'L'.  Therefore, 
my  dear  reader,  cannot  you  sec  even  at  a  glance 
that,  the  pardoned  and  regenerated  child  of  onr 
Heavenly  Father  must  say  from  his  heart,  "the 
love  of  Christ  constraineth  me."  Therefore  I 
delight  to  shun  the  card  table,  the  dance,  the 
horse  racing,  the  gambler's  table,  the  worldly 
lodges,  the  secret  societies,  the  circus,  the 
theatre,  the  house  of  iniquity,  the  saloon,  and 
in  fact  all  these  filthy,  lustful  pursuits  and 
pleasures  of  the  world.  For  all  of  which  we 
have  a  "thus  saith  the  Lord." 

It  does  not  take  sanctification  to  quit  those 
things;  no  indeed.  For  the  Holy  Spirit 
through  I.  John,  3 :8,  says,  He  that  com- 
mitteth  sin  is  of  the  devil.  "Love  not  the  world, 
neither  the  things  of  the  world ;  if  ye  love  the 
things  of  the  world,  the  love  of  the  Father  is 
not  in  you."  I.  John,  2:15.  Beloved,  the  min- 
ute we  commit  sin,  that  moment  we  again  lose 
our  sonship,  and  again  become  the  servant  of 
Satan,  from  the  fact  that  we  obey  him.  It 
matters  not  whether  we  be  preacher,  official, 
member  or  laity  of  the  church,  the  fact  re- 


STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY  65 

mains  the  same.  But,  my  Christian  brethren, 
my  sister,  I  am  persuaded  better  things  of  you, 
because  any  person  who  is  truly  born  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  will  as  naturally  long  for,  pray 
for,  seek  and  ask  for  more  of  that  spirit,  as  the 
infant  in  its  mother's  arms  cries  out  for  the 
natural  fountain  of  life  (the  breast).  And 
your  soul,  as  well  as  your  voice  will  be  contin- 
ually exclaiming  with  that  sainted  Bible  char- 
acter: "Beloved,  now  are  .we  the  sons  of  God, 
and  it  doth  not  yet  appear  what  we  shall  be; 
but  we  know  that,  when  he  shall  appear,  wo 
shall  be  like  him;  for  we  shall  see  him  as  he 
is."  How  is  he?  At  conversion,  he  is  our 
righteousness,  our  justifier.  We  then  have  him 
as  half  of  the  atonement.  But  when,  as  we 
are  told  to  d'o,  we  leave  the  first  principles,  and 
go  on  to  perfection,  Heb.,  6 :1 ;  also  Matth., 
5 :48,  and  a  dozen  other  Scriptures ;  then  He 
becomes  our  sanctifier.  We  are  to  receive  Jesus 
in  four  parts:  Wisdom,  Righteousness,  Sanc- 
tification  and  Redemption.  I.  Cor.,  1 :30.  God 
says  all  have  sinned  and  come  short  of  His 
glory.  Rom.,  3 :23 ;  that  our  iniquities  have 
separated  us  from  Him  and  our  sins  have  hid 
His  face  from  us,  so  that  He  will  not  hear. 


66  STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY 

This  shuts  us  out  from  Heaven.  Therefore, 
we  must  have  help.  We  must  lay  hold  upon 
One  who  is  mighty  to  save.  Who  is  He  ?  The 
Son  of  God,  and  by  Him  and  through  Him 
alone  does  God!  purpose  a  complete  salvation 
from  all  sin. 

The  modus  operandi  is  this :  By  three  funda- 
mental stepping  stones.  First,  by  His  word ; 
second,  by  the  blood;  and,  third,  by  the  Holy 
Spirit.  Conviction  precedes  repentance;  re- 
pentance precedes  pardon,  regeneration  and 
adoption.  Pardon,  regeneration  and  adop- 
tion are  all  performed  at  the  time  which 
is  commonly  known  as  conversion.  After  this 
comes  entire  consecration,  which  precedes  en- 
tire sanctification  (  cleansing  V  and  the  baptism 
with  the  Holy  Ghost.  If  we  remember  rightly, 
it  was  the  sainted  William  Jones,  who  is  now 
in  Paradise  with  his  sanctifier,  who  said,  "Sanc- 
tification is  unapproachable,  save  through  the 
gateway  of  justification,  and  the  baptism  with 
the  Holy  Spirit  cannot  be,  unless  there  is  a 
vessel  to  fill,  and  that  must  be  a  cleansed  ves- 
sell."  Kev.  Isaiah  Reid,  says,  "We  surrender, 
th^at  we  may  be  saved.  We  repent,  that  we  may 
be  pardoned.  We  are  pardoned  that  it  may 


STEPPING    STONES   TO   GLORY  67 

become  consistent  for  God  to  regenerate  us." 
Surrendering  and  repenting  is  the  sinner's 
work,  pardoning,  and  regenerating  andi  adopt- 
ing is  God's  work  through  the  Holy  Spirit.  God 
cannot  repent  for  the  sinner,  neither  can  the 
sinner  regenerate,  justify  and  adopt  for  God. 
Again,  God  cannot  consecrate  for  His  regen- 
erated child ;  neither  can  His  child  cleanse  or 
fill  himself  or  herself  with  the  Holy  Spirit. 

CONVICTION. 

t 

Conviction  either  for  pardon  or  cleansing 
is  the  most  tremendously  critical  moment  or 
period  in  a  person's  whole  lifetime.  That  is 
the  sad  or  joyous  hour,  or  even  minute,  in 
which  we  seal  our  own  eternal  destiny.  Let 
me  cite  you  to  a  very  sad  case.  (I  could  cite 
you  to  many,  many  more  just  as  terrible.) 

"I  am  as  much  lost  as  though  I  were  in  hell. 
Through  the  kindness  of  Mrs.  H.  A.  Coon,  we 
publish  the  following:  Mother  Heart  and  I 
were  sent  for  to  visit  this  neighbor.  We  found 
him  in  terrible  distress  of  soul,  pacing  the  floor 
and  groaning.  I  said  to  him,  Mr.  C — ,  we  have 
come  to  help  you,  if  that  is  your  desire.  He 


68  STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY 

replied,  I  know  it;  you  are  all  right,  but  it  is 
too  late.  I  attended  your  meetings  two  years 
ago.  The  Spirit  said  to  me,  Harry,  go  to  the 
altar!  Plead  with  God  for  mercy!  I  CM  mid 
scarcely  sit  in  my  seat.  I  had  been  a  class 
leader  in  the  east.  I  came  to  Marengo,  have 
been  un-der  deep  conviction,  but  would  not 
yield.  The  Spirit  left  me,  and  I  am  as  much 
lost  as  though  I  were  in  hell  already.  I  feel 
the  fire  is  kindled  here  (striking  upon  his 
breast).  It  is  too  late;  I  am  going  to  hell,  ami 
my  sons  with  me."  He  lived  two  weeks.  Tr  was 
a  place  of  darkness  and  devils  until  he  died. 
(From  Saved  and  Unsaved.) 

Oh,  my  beloved  reader,  if  you  were 
ever  or  now,  or  shall  ever  be  convicted 
by  God's  Holy  Spirit  either  for  regen- 
eration or  entire  sanctification  (holiness) 
I  exhort  you  in  Jesus  name,  to  not 
quench  the  Spirit,  but  say  yes,  Lord,  T  will, 
only  show  me  how.  The  first  stemming  stone  to 
Heaven  after  conviction  is  repentance.  ''Then 
Peter  said  unto  them,  repent,  believe,  and  be 
baptized  every  one  of  you  in  the  name  of  Jesus 
Christ  for  the  remission  of  'sins."  Acts  2  :38. 
Repentance  means  to  sorrow  with  a  godly  sor- 


STEPPING   STONES   TO    GLORY  69 

row  that  needeth  not  to  be  repented  of  again; 
and  then  quit  sinning.  Remembering  that 
Jesns  saves  you  only  while  you  quit  sinning. 
There  is  safety  and  encouragement  in  justifi- 
cation. The  blood  does  this.  Though  if  (as 
is  stated  by  a  very  few  persons  who  are  wrest- 
ing or  bending  the  word  of  God  to  suit  their 
individual  case),  it  is  something  else  besidfes 
the  blood  of  Jesus  that  satisfies  divine  justice, 
and  makes  justification  possible,  will  some  very 
wise  person  tell  us  what  that  thing  is  by  which 
we  may  supplement  the  atonement  for  sin  and 
unrighteousness,  and  make  it  possible  for  the 
Holy  Spirit  to  regenerate  sinners.  How  glor- 
ious the  thought  that,  by  God's  appointed  way, 
the  sinner,  helpless  and  undone,  guilty  and  un- 
der condemnation,  may  obtain  remission  of  all 
past  sins,  receive  conscious  divine  favor,  and 
be  forever  free:!  from  the  demands  of  the  law 
for  past  (actual)  sins  committed. 

Xo  more  will  these  sins  rise  up  to  condemn 
him,  either  in  this  world  or  at  the  judgment. 
Reader,  listen !  God  is  speaking,  "Say  unto 
them,  as  I  live,  saith  the  Lord  God,  I  have  no 
pleasure  in  the  death  of  the  wicked,  but  that, 
the  wicked  turn  from  his  way  and  live;  turn 


70  STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY 

ye,  turn  ye  from  your  evil  ways;  for  why  will 
ye  die."  Eze.,  33 :11. 

Beloved,  have  you  returned  ?  Do  you  re- 
turn? For  Jesus'  sake,  please  put  this  book 
down  by  your  si  die  just  long  enough  to  irivc 
yourself  to  Jesus.  The  writer  and  his  dear 
wife  have  already  introduced  you  to  Him  in 
prayer.  Listen !  He  speaks  to  you  once  more. 
"Seek  ye  the  Lord,  while  he  may  be  found, 
call  ye  upon  Him  while  He  is  near.  Let  the 
wicked  forsake  his  way,  and  the  unrighteous 
man  his  thoughts,  and  let  him  return  unto  the 
Lord,  and  He  will  have  mercy  upon  him  and 
to  our  God,  for  He  will  abundantly  pardon 
him."  Sinner,  do  you  think  God  is  lying  to 
you  ?  Then,  if  not,  if  you  return  and  surrender 
yourself  to  him  unconditionally,  what  would 
be  done  ?  Isa.,  55 :6-7.  But  do  you  say  I  don't 
feel  that  I  am  a  sinner.  I  live  a  strictly  moral 
life.  I  go  to  church,  pay  my  honest  debts,  etc. 
Yes,  my  dear  friend,  but  you  are  lost,  through 
the  fall  as  you  have  already  seen.  Hear  what 
God  says  about  this.  If  you  think  you  are  not 
a  sinner,  God  says,  you  are  deceived.  "Tf  wo 
say  we  have  no  sin,  we  deceive  ourselves  and 
the  truth  is  not  in  us."  I.  John,  1  :8.  "There 


STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY  71 

is  no  difference,  for  all  have  sinned."  Rom., 
3 :22-23.  "From  the  sole  of  your  foot  even 
unto  the  head,  there  is  no  soundness  in  it ;  but 
wounds  and  bruises  and  putrifying  sores." 
Isa.,  1 :6.  "And  the  result  of  all  this  sin  is,  we 
shall  be  turned  into  hell !"  Psa.,  9  :17.  May 
God  in  His  infinite  love  show  us  the  exceeding 
sinf ulness  of  sin ;  the  awf ulness  and  horrors  of 
h(H,  and  the  length  of  eternity. 

"Take  the  world,  but  give  me  Jesus, 
In  His  cross  my  trust  shall  be, 

Till  with  clearer,  brighter  vision. 

Face  to  face  my  Lord  I  see.      Amen  I" 


72  STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY 


(East  eUjy  lurten  upon  %  Card  anfc  if? 
sljall  ^UBlam  (H)er.    $  sa.,  55:22. 


"Child   of  my  love,  lean   hard, 

And  let  me  feel  the  piv^mv 

Of  thy  care. 

I  know  thy  burdens,  child 

I  shaped  it  ; 

Poised  it  in  my  own  hand  ; 

Made  no  proportion  to  its  weight 

To  thin  unaided  strength  ; 

For  even  as  I  laid  it  on, 

I  said,  I  shall  be  near, 

And  while  she  leans  on  me, 

This  burden  shall  be  mine, 

Not  hers  ;  so  shall  I  keep  my  child 

Within  the  circling  arms 

Of  my  own  love. 

Here  lay  it  down,  nor  fear 

To  impose  it  on  a  shoulder 

Which   upholds   the  government 

Of  worlds. 


STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY  73 

Yet  closer  come; 

Thou  are  not  near  enough. 

I  would  embrace  thy  care 

So  I  might  feel  my  child 

Eeposing  on  my  breast. 

Thou  lovest  me  ?     I  know  it. 

Doubt  not  then. 

But  loving  me,  lean  hard." 


74  STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY 


Church  member,  God  says  to  you,  "Choose 
ye  this  day  "  whether  you  will  leave  that  lodge 
(or  secret  society),  or  fry  eternally  in  hell! 
He  has  written  a  letter  to  you.  Will  you 
please  read  it  ?  A  portion  of  that  letter  reads 
as  follows,  I.  Sam'l.,  15:3,  22,  23,  says,  "hath 
the  Lord  as  great  delight  in  burnt  offerings  and 
sacrifices  as  in  obeying  the  voice  of  the  Lord? 
Behold,  to  obey  is  better  than  sacrifice,  and  to 
hearken  than  the  fat  of  rams.  For  rebellion  is 
as  the  sin  of  witchcraft,  and  stubbornness  is  as 
iniquity  and  idolatry."  In  St.  John,  21  :!.">, 
Jesus  says  to  you,  Simon,  lovest  thou  me  more 
than  these  (lodges)  ?  Christian,  will  you  look 
Him  in  the  face  and  say,  Jesus  I  do  not  ? 
That  letter  further  says,  in  I.  Cor.,  10 :20-21 : 
"I  say,  that  the  things  which  the  Gentiles 
(worldlings  and  worldly  Christians)  sacrifice, 
they  sacrifice  to  devils  and  not  to  God,  and  I 
would!  not  that  ye  should  have  fellowship  with 
devils."  Beloved,  will  you  write  back  to  Him, 
I  don't  care  if  they  do.  I  will  be  one  of  them  ? 


STEPPING   STONES   TO    GLORY  75 

The  twenty-first  verse  says,  "Ye  cannot  drink 
the  cup  of  the  Lord  and  the  cup  of  devils;  ye 
cannot  be  partakers  of  the  Lord's  table  and  the 
table  of  the  devil."  Will  you  dare  say  to  him, 
but  O  yes,  I  can  and  more  than  that,  I  will. 

Again  he  says  to  you,  worldly  Christian, 
"Follow  thou  me  with  all  thine  heart."  But 
Jesus,  if  you  please,  I  want  you  to  distinctly 
understand  that  that  worldly  lodge  shall  have  a 
good  share  of  my  attention,  my  time,  my 
money  and  my  love.  Yes,  I  really  love  it,  and 
another  thing  is,  I  have  sworn  to  nourish  and 
<>!tcy  it.  Once  more  Jesus  asks  you,  have  you 
sworn  to  nourish  and  obey  Me  ?  Christian,  are 
you  His  disciple  ?  Then  listen  to  His  plaintive 
appeal  to  you.  "Will  ye  also  leave  Me  ?"  "Ye 
are  My  friends,  if  ye  do  whatsoever  I  command 
you ;"  and  I  say  "come  out  from  among  them." 

Jesus,  we  would  like  to  accommodate  you 
as  far  as  possible;  but  there  is  one  thing  we 
would  like  to  remind  you  of,  and  that  is  I  have 
a  mind!  of  my  own  and  I  will  use  it.  Once 
more  he  says,  but  my  child,  "Ye  are  mine,  I 
have  bought  that  mind  with  the  price  of  my 
blood."  Well,  if  you  did,  I  will  not  leave  my 
lodge.  Eph.,  5:11-12,  tells  you  to  have  no  fel- 


76  STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY 

Inwship  with. the  unfruitful  works  of  darkness, 
but  rather  reprove  them.  Christian,  will  you 
continue  to  rebelliously  say  to  the  Holy  Spirit, 
but  I  will  fellowship  with  them,  and  I  have  imi 
and  further  than  that,  I  will  not  reprove  Them. 
I  know  you  tell  me  in  the  twelfth  verse,  "It  is 
a  shame  even  to  speak  of  those  things  which  are 
done  of  them  in  secret ;"  but  I  don't  believe  it. 
Psa.,  1:1,  tells  you:  O  Christian,  that  the 
man  who  stands  not  in  the  way  of  sinners,  nor 
sits  in  the  seat  of  the  scornful  is  blessed.  Do 
you  know  of  any  scorners  of  God's  word  or 
work  in  your  lodge,  or  secret  society  ?  Do  you 
sit  in  the  seat  with,  or  near  them  ?  Christian 
lodge  goer,  please  read  this  portion  of  God's 
letter  to  you.  I  Gen'l  John,  2:15,  16,  17: 
"Love  not  the  world,  neither  the  things  that 
are  in  the  world.  If  any  man  love  the  world, 
the  love  of  the  Father  is  not  in  him.  For  all 
that  is  in  the  world,  the  lust  of  the  flesh,  the 
lust  of  the  eyes  and  the  pride  of  life  is  not  of 
the  Father,  but  is  of  the  world.  And  the  world 
passeth  away,  and  the  lust  thereof ;  but  he  that 
doeth  the  will  of  God  abicleth  forever."  Ye-. 
Lord,  all  this  sounds  well,  but  I  give  you  to 


STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLOKY  77 

understand  (by  my  actions)  I  don't  take  any 
stock  in  it. 

My  beloved  worldly  lodge  going  Christian, 
we  adjure  thee  in  Jesus'  name,  to  listen  with 
bated  breath,  and  reverential  awe,  to  Him 
whom  you  profess  to  love  and  obey.  Aftef 
that  hour  of  bloody  sweat  in  the  garden,  that 
you  might  be  separated,  and  kept  -from  these 
worldly  things,  He  then  gives  you  a  practical 
example  in  His  twelve  children  (disciples)  of 
a  justified  life  in  this  respect.  In  St.  John, 
17:11,  Jesus  tells  you  that  "These  are  'in'  th? 
world,"  and  in  verse  16,  he  again,  to  make  it 
very  plain  says,  "They  are  not  'of  the  world." 
As  already  mentioned  in  another  part  of  this 
book,  the  writer  may  be  sitting  "in"  an  insur- 
ance office;  but  he  would  not  be  one  "of"  its 
members. 

My  dear  secret  society  Christian,  will  you 
just  read  this  P.  S.  to  your  Father's  letter, 
an  •  then  we  will  leave  both  thee  and  this  sub- 
ject in  the  hands  of  Him  who  has  said,  "He 
will  pour  His  wrath  and  fury  upon  His  dis- 
obedient children." 

II.  Cor.,  C>:14-1S,  tells  you  to  "Be  ye  not 
unequally  yoked  together  with  unbelievers;  for 


78  STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY 

what  fellowship  hath  righteousness  with  un- 
righteousness ?  Or  what  part  hath  he  that  be- 
lieveth  with  an  infidel  ?  And  what  agreement 
hath  the  temple  of  God  with  idols?  For  ye 
are  the  temple  of  the  living  God,  as  God  hath 
said,  I  will  dwell  in  them,  and  walk  in  them ; 
and  I  will  be  their  God,  and  they  shall  be  my 
people.  Wherefore  come  out  from  among  them 
and  be  ye  separate,  saith  the  Lord  and  touch 
not  the  unclean  thing  and  I  will  receive  you, 
and  will  be  a  father  unto  you  saith  the  Lord 
Almighty." 

My  Christian  reader,  will  you  obey  him  ? 
When  ?  Lord  Jesus,  will  you  come  just  now, 
and  seal  this  thy  truth  upon  my  dear  reader-' 
hearts.  Amen ! 


STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY  79 


Afoful  tuft  of  a 


The  following  is  a  short  account  of  the  life 
and  death  of  William  Pope  of  Bolton,  in  Lan- 
caster. He  was  at  one  time  a  member  of  the 
Methodist  Society,  and  was  a  saved  and  happy 
man.  His  wife,  a  devoted  saint,  died  triumph- 
antly. After  her  death  his  zeal  for  religion 
reclined,  and  by  associating  with  backslidden 
professors,  he  entered  the  path  of  ruin.  His 
companions  even  professed  to  believe  in  the  re- 
demption of  devils.  William  became  an  ad- 
mirer of  their  scheme,  a  frequenter  with  them 
of  the  public  house  (saloon)  and  in  time  a 
common  drunkard.  He  finally  became  a  dis- 
ciple of  Thomas  Paine,  and  associated  himself 
with  a  number  of  deistical  persons  at  Bolton, 
who  assembled  themselves  together  on  Sundays 
to  confirm  each  other  in  their  infidelity.  They 
amused  themselves  with  throwing  the  word 
of  God  on  the  floor,  kicking  it  around 
the  room,  and  treading  it  under  foot. 
God  laid  His  hand  on  this  man's  1  unh- 
and ho  was  seized  with  consumption.  Mr. 


80  STEPPING    STOKES   TO   GLORY 

Rhodes  was  requested  to  visit  William 
Pope.  He  says:  When  I  first  saw  him 
he  said  to  me:  Last  night  I  believe  T  was 
in  hell,  and  felt  the  horrors  and  torment  of  the 
damned;  but  God  has  brought  me  back  again. 
and  given  me  a  little  more  respite.  The  gloom 
of  guilty  terrors  does  not  sit  so  heavy  upon  me 
as  it  did,  and  I  have  something1  like  a  faint 
hope  that,  after  all  that  I  have  clone,  God  may 
yet  save  me. 

After  exhorting  him  to  repentance  and  con- 
fidence in  God,  the  Almighty  Savior,  I  prayed 
with  him  and  left  him.  In  the  evening  he  sent 
for  me  again.  I  found  him  in  the  utmost  dis- 
tress, overwhelmed  with  bitter  anguish  and 
despair.  I  endeavored  to  encourage  him.  I 
spoke  of  the  infinite  merit  of  the  great  Re- 
deemer, and  mentioned  several  cases  in  which 
God  had  saved'  the  greatest  sinners,  but  he 
answered,  no  case  of  any  that  has  been  men- 
tioned in  comparable  to  mine.  I  have  no  con- 
trition. I  cannot  repent.  God  will  damn  me! 
I  know  the  day  of  grace  is  lost.  (1<>,1  has  said 
of  such  as  are  in  my  case.  I  will  laueh  at  your 
calamity  and  mock  when  your  fear  cometh. 
(Please  read  Prov.,  1  :23-31.)  T  said,  have  you 


STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY  81 

over  known  anything  of  the  mercy  and  love  of 
God  ?  O,  yes,  he  replied,  many  years  ago  I 
truly  repented  and  sought  the  Lord!  and  found 
peace  and  happiness.  I  prayed  with  him  after 
exhorting  him  to  seek  the  Lord  and  had  great 
hopes  of  his  salvation ;  he  appeared  to  be  much 
affected,  and  begged  I  would  represent  his  case 
in  our  society  and  pray  for  him.  I  did  SQ  that 
evening,  and  many  hearty  petitions  were  put 
up  for  him. 

Mr.  Barraclough  gives  the  following  account 
of  what  he  witnessed.  He  says :  I  went  to 
see  William  Pope,  and  as  soon  as  he  saw  me  he 
exclaimed :  You  are  come  to  see  one  who  is 
damned  forever!  I  answered,  I  hope  not. 
Christ  can  save  the  chief  of  sinners.  He  re- 
plied, I  have  denied  him,  I  have  denied  Him ; 
therefore  He  has  cast  me  off  forever!  I  know 
the  day  of  grace  is  past,  gone,  gone,  never  to 
return !  I  entreated  him  not  to  be  too  hasty, 
and  to  pray.  He  answered,  I  cannot  pray ;  my 
heart  is  quite  hardened.  I  have  no  desire  to 
receive  any  blessing  at  the  hand  of  God  and 
then  cried  out,  "Oh,  the  hell,  the  torment,  the 
fire  that  I  feel  within  me!  Oh,  Eternity! 
Eternity!"  On  Thursday  T  found  him  groaning 


82  STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY 

under  the  weight  of  the  displeasure  of  God. 
His  eyes  rolled  to  and  fro,  he  lifted  up  his 
hands,  andi  with  vehemence  cried  out,  Oh,  the 
burning  flame,  the  hell,  the  pain  I  feel !  I  have 
done,  done  the  deed,  the  horrible,  damnable 
deed !  I  prayed  with  him  and  while  I  was 
praying  he  said  with  inexpressible  rage,  I  will 
not  have  salvation  at  the  hand  of  God!  !No, 
No!  I  will  not  ask  it  of  him!  After  a  short 
pause,  he  cried  out,  Oh,  how  I  long  to  be  in  the 
bottomless  pit — in  the  lake  which  bnriicili  with 
fire  and  brimstone!  The  day  following  I  saw 
him  again.  I  said,  William,  your  pain  is  in- 
expressable.  He  groaned:,  and  with  a  loud 
voice  cried  out,  Eternity  will  explain  my  tor- 
ments. I  tell  you  again,  I  am  damned.  I  will 
not  have  salvation.  He  called  me  to  him  as  if 
to  speak  to  me,  but  as  soon  as  I  came  within 
his  reach,  he  struck  me  on  the  head  with  all  his 
might,  and  gnashing  his  teeth,  cried  out,  God 
will  not  hear  your  prayers.  At  another  time 
he  said,  I  have  crucified  the  Son  afresh,  and 
counted  the  blood  of  the  covenant  an  unholy 
thing!  Oh,  that  wicked  and  horrible  deed  of 
blaspheming  against  the  Holy  Ghost !  which  I 
know  I  have  committed;!  He  was  often  heard 


STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY  83 

to  exclaim,  I  want  nothing  but  hell.  Come,  O 
devil,  and  take  me !  At  another  time  he  said, 
Oh,  what  a  terrible  thing  it  is !  Once  I  might, 
and  would  not ;  now  I  would  and  must  not.  He 
declared  he  was  best  satisfied  when  cursing. 
The  day  he  died,  when  Mr.  Rhodes  visited  him, 
and  asked  the  privilege  to  pray  once  more  with 
him,  he  cried1  out  with  great  strength,  consid- 
ering his  weakness,  ~No !  and  passed  away  in  the 
evening  without  God. 

Backslider,  do  you  know  you  are  fast  ap- 
proaching the 

Line  by  us  unseen, 

That  crosses  every  path ; 
That  marks  the  boundary  between 
God's  mercy  and  His  wrath. 

(.From   Remarkable   Narratives. ) 

You  are,  and  unless  you  turn  quickly,  you 
with  William  Pope  will  be  writhing  in  hell 
through  all  eternity.  God  says  the  backsliders 
in  heart  shall  be  filled  with  his  own  ways. 
But  he  says  again,  "Return  ye  backsliding 
children,  and  I  will  heal  your  backslidings." 
Oh,  come  back  and  be  healed1  before  God  shall 
say  of  you,  "He  is  joined  to  his  idols ;  let  him 
alone." 


84  STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY 


"The  fool  hath  said  in  his  heart,  there  i- 
God."  Psa.,  14:1.  Infidels  become  atlici-rs 
ynd  atheists  are  manufactured  into  anarchists. 
To  trace  this  backwards,  it  would  read,  anar- 
chists beget  atheists,  who  like  David's  fool.  >ay 
there  is  no  God.  And  they  beget  infidels,  who, 
the  word  tells  us,  are  begotten  of  the  devil. 
Matth.,  13:37-38:  Acts,  13:10,  I.  John,  3:8 
"Ye  are  the  children  of  the  devil."  Oh,  how 
literal  this  is  seen  to  be  if  one  would  examine 
the  police  court  records  of  Chicago  or  any  of 
the  large  cities  of  the  world.  But  we  will  not 
torture  our  readers  by  recapitulating  the  sicken- 
ing, diabolical  murders  of  the  presidents  and 
crowned  heads  of  civilization. 

Fool,  fool, 
Foolish  fool, 
Thus  to  act, 
And  perish. 


STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY  H5 


Jfaur  Srarta. 

EIGHT  BIBLE  REASONS  FOB  NOT  USING  TOBACCO. 

First.  It  is  not  for  the  glory  of  God.  "Ye 
are  bought  with  a  price;  therefore  glorify  God 
in  your  body  and  in  your  spirit,  which  are 
God's."  I.  Cor.,  6:20. 

Second.  It  brings  on  disease  of  the  heart, 
and  cancer  of  the  tongue.  "If  any  man  defile 
the  temple  of  God,  him  shall  God  destroy."  I. 
Cor.,  3:17. 

Third.  It  is  expensive  and  the  money  is 
wasted.  "Wherefore  do  ye  spend  money  for 
that  which  is  not  bread  ?  and  your  labor  for 
that  which  satisfieth  not  ?"  Isa.,  55  :2. 

Fourth.  It  is  infringing  on  the  rights  of 
others  by  contact  with  them  in  its  nauseous, 
sickening  odor.  "Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor 
as  thyself."  Gal.,  5  :14. 

Fifth.  It  is  a  wrong  example  to  set  before 
the  young.  "Let  your  light  so  shine  before 
men,  that  they  may  see  your  good  works,  and 


86.  STEPPING   STOXES   TO   GLORY 

glorify  your  Father  which  is  in  Heaven.'' 
Matth.,  5:16. 

Sixth.  It  is  a  filthy  habit.  "Let  us  cleanse 
ourselves  from  all  filthiness  of  the  flesh  and 
spirit,  perfecting  holiness  in  the  fear  of  God." 
II.  Cor.,  7:1. 

Seventh.  The  habit  once  formed 
brings  one  into  bondage.  "Whosoever  com- 
miteth  sin  is  the  servant  of  sin."  John,  8  :34. 

Eight.  It  causes  unnatural  desire,  and  leads 
to  intemperance.  "If  ye  live  after  the  flesh, 
ye  shall  die.  To  whom  ye  yield  yourselves 
servants  to  obey,  his  servants  ye  are  to  whom 
ye  obey."  Rom.,  6:6,  9,  13.  (D.  W.) 

STEPPING    STOXES    TO    HELL. 

The  theatre,  the  dance  hall,  the  billiard  room, 
the  tobacco  shop,  the  beer  saloon,  the  card 
table,  the  house  of  ill  fame.  "But  know,  for 
all  of  these  things  God  will  bring  thee  unto 
judgment."  Eccl.,  11:9. 

"DAT  OLE  PIPE." 

I  say,  brudder,  I  thought  you  belonged  to  de 
church. 


STEPPING   STONES   TO    GLORY  87 

So  I  does. 

Den  why  are  you  suckin'  dat  ole  pipe  ? 

Can't  a  feller  smoke  a  pipe  and  belong  to  de 
church  ? 

Well,  yes,  he  may  belong  to  de  church  build- 
in'  but  nebber  to  de  church  triumphant. 

I  should  like  to  know  how  you  make  dat  out. 

Well,  brudder,  look  at  it  in  dis  way:  How 
would  you  look  walkin'  down  de  golden  streets 
ob  de  New  Jerusalem  wi  dat  ole  pipe  in  yo' 
mouf  ? 

I  would  jus'  snatch  it  out  bery  quick. 

Yes,  but  what  would  yo'  do  wid  it  ?  You 
could  not  find  any  place  to  fro  it  out  ob  sight ; 
no  place  to  hide  it ;  no  way  to  get  rid  ob  it.  Yo' 
hab  been  gibben  a  nice  white  garment  to  put  on, 
and  dare  ain't  any  pocket  in  it  to  put  de  ole 
pipe,  so  yo'  will  hab  to  hide  it  in  yo'  hand. 

I  say,  Brudder  Jones,  your  getting  a  fellow 
in  a  bad  fix  wid  de  ole  pipe,  the  way  yo'  are 
puttin'  it. 

But  dat  aint  all ;  by  and  by  yo'  will  want  a 
smoke,  and  yo'  will  walk  de  golden  streets  tryin' 
to  find  a  place  to  hide,  so  yo'  can  smoke;  and 
de  streets  of  dat  city  is  about  fifteen  hundred 
miles  long,  and  if  yo'  should  get  to  de  end  ob 


88  STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY 

de  street,  you  would  fetch  up  again'  de  wall. 
dat  is  made  ob  Jasper  and  so  high  yo  can't 
clime  ober,  an  no  hole  in  de  wall  to  stick  yo' 
head  for  a  smoke,  and  you  will  want  a  smoke 
so  bad  yo'  will  almost  make  up  your  min  1  to 
smoke  right  in  de  golden  city.  Den  yo'  will 
begin  to  think  of  gettin'  a  match  to  light  de  ole 
pipe;  and  den  it  will  come  to  yo'  all  of  a  su<l- 
den  dat  dare  ain't  no  matches  in  yo'  new  clothes. 
Den  you  would  wish  yo'  was  back  in  dis  ole 
worl'  again  with  de  ole  clothes,  wid  de  matches 
and  de  pipe  so  you  could  take  some  comfort. 

I  say,  Brudder  Jones,  I  can't  stand  dat.  I 
can't  afford  to  lose  dem  golden  streets  for  de 
ole  pipe,  so  here  goes,  de  pipe,  de  tobacco.  <lc 
matches  and  all. 

Dat  is  de  right  way.  If  yo'  was  going  to  a 
weddin',  where  would  yo'  fix  up? 

I  would  fix  up  at  home,  of  course. 

Just  so.  Now  if  yo'  expect  to  go  to  heaben, 
you  must  get  ready  down  here,  for  de  church 
triumphant  is  de  folks  that  triumph  ober  their 
sins,  by  de  help  of  de  Lord,  ober  all  their  nasty 
habits,  and  lib  just  as  pure  as  possible,  and 
hab  no  wrong  thing  about  them;  for  de  word 
says,  "Let  him  dat  is  filthy  be  filthy  still,  and 


STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY  89 

let  him  dat  is  holy,  be  holy  still."  So  yo'  see 
yo'  will  be  just  what  yo'  are,  when  yo'  fetch 
up  in  dis  world ;  so  if  yo'  lub  to  use  the  devil's 
calone,  yo'  will  hab  to  go  where  de  brimstone 
kinder  kills  de  smell.  You  nebber,  nebber  can 
get  in  de  golden  city,  haben  on  you  de  smell 
ob  dat  ole  pipe.  (Tract.) 

SOWING  WILD  OATS. 

You  may  not  be  a  farmer,  but  what  you  sow, 
you  reap.  "Be  not  deceived,  God  is  not  mocked. 
For  whatsoever  a  man  soweth,  that  shall  he 
also  reap." 

Sowing  the  seed  of  a  lingering  pain, 
Sowing  the  seed  of  a  maddened  brain, 
Sowing  the  seed  of  a  tarnished  name, 
Sowing  the  seed  of  eternal  shame. 
Oh!  what  shall  the  harvest  be? 

(Tract.) 

\VILO    CANNOT    IFAVK    POWER    IX    PRAYER. 

"The  vain,  Job,  35:13.  The  hypocrite,  Job 
27  :S-9.  He  who  wavers  in  faith,  James,  1 :6-7. 
He  who  chooses  delusions,  Tsa.,  00:4.  Who 


90  STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY 

continues  in  sin,  Isa.,  59:2.  Who  arc  not  heirs 
together,  I.  Peter,  3:7.  Who  regards  iniquity 
in  the  heart,  Psa.,  66:18.  Who  will  not  for- 
give others,  Matth.,  li:  14-15.  Who  asks  con- 
trary to  the  Lord's  will,  Jno.,  5:14.  Who  will 
not  mind  the  law,  Prov.,  28 :9.  Who  likens 
not  to  the  cry  of  the  poor,  Prov.,  21 :13.  Who 
asks  according  to  lusts,  Psa.,  78:18-21.  Who 
desires  man  to  rule  rather  than  God,  I.  Sam'l, 
8:18.  Who  are  disobedient,  I.  Sam'l,  15:22- 
24.  Who  fails  to  answer  the  call  of  God,  Prov., 
1:24-28.  Who  acts  are  known  to  be  wrong, 
Mic.,  3  :4.  Who  prays  to  hear  himself,  Matth., 
6  :7.  Who  knows  his  brother  has  ought  against 
him,  Matth.,  5:23-24.  Who  keeps  his  lik.-~  a~ 
idols  and  difficulties  as  stumbling  blocks,  Eze., 
14:7-8.  Who  has  sinned  unto  death,  I.  John, 
5:16;  Matth.,  3:29-30;  Heb.,  10:26;  6:4-6 
II.  Peter,  2 :20-21. 

Reader,  do  you  have  answers  to  your  prayer- 
literally  ?  If  you  do  not,  hear  the  voice  of  the 
Lord ;  hasten  along  His  stepping  stones  in  His 
word,  listening  as  you  go,  until  you  are  near 
enough  to  hear.  Amen!  '(Tract.) 


STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY  91 


Uyttuj  <E?0timnng  and  Utaum  0f 
Cila  l^omar. 


(From  Saved  and  Unsaved.) 

We  are  indebted  to  her  pastor,  Rev.  B.  C. 
Marhews,  for  this  sketch.  Miss  Lila  Homar, 
a  member  of  Methodist  Church  at  Dardanelle, 
Arkansas,  died  in  the  Lord  at  her  home,  Octo- 
ber 3,  1895.  She  had  just  entered  her  twenty- 
fifth  year  March  19,  1895.  She  was  converted 
at  the  early  age  of  ten  years.  Just  before  her 
death  she  had  a  glimpse  of  the  invisible  world. 
Knowing  she  was  the  Lord's  handmaiden  and 
that  her  disease  would  allow  her  to  be  rational 
to  the  end,  I  thought  she  might  be  able  to  see 
the  angels,  and  tell  us  something  of  what  she 
saw,  so  I  said,  Lila,  when  the  angels  come  for 
you,  let  us  know.  In  a  short  time  she  whis- 
pered to  her  sister,  Tell  Brother  Mathews  to 
come  closer,  and  then  said,  Brother  Mathews,  I 
saw  some  angels,  but  they  were  so  far  away 
that  T  could  not  recognize  anyone.  I  asked  her 


92  STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY 

if  they  had  wings,  to  which  she  replied,  They 
had  no  wings,  but  were  all  arrayed  in  white 
and  looked  just  like  people. 

After  awhile  she  said,  I  saw  a  great  host  of 
angels,  but  there  were  more  babies  than  any 
others.  I  saw  grandpa  and  Ma  Homar  and 
Aunt  Joe.  In  a  short  time  she  turned  to  her 
sister,  Miss  Jodie,  and  said,  "O  Joe,  tell  Emma 
Lawrence  that  Daisy  Conger  is  the  sweetest 
angel."  Miss  Joe  then  asked  her  if  Daisy 
looked  bright  and  happy,  to  which  she  replied, 
"O  yes,  so  bright  and  happy.  Tell  the  Conger 
girls  to  be  good  and  meet  Daisy." 

On  Thursday  morning,  just  before  she  fell 
asleep,  she  said  to  her  mother,  I  won't  get  to 
go  to  the  Sulphur  Springs,  mamma,  but  I  will 
go  to  an  everlasting  spring,  where  flowers 
never  wither.  In  reply  to  this  her  mother  said, 
Lila,  I  can't  go  with  you.  Xo,  mamma,  said 
she,  but  you  can  come  and  I  will  be  waiting 
for  you  all. 

She  talked  to  each  member  of  the  family  sep- 
arately and  sent  a  message  by  them  to  her  ab- 
sent brother.  After  thanking  her  friends  for 
their  kindness,  she  quietly  breathed  her  last. 


STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY  93 

The  writer  of  this  book,  by  the  help  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  is  impressed  to  put  her  last  prom- 
ise, "I  will  be  waiting  for  you  all,"  into  rhyme 
which  follows: 

MY    KINDRED   I    SEE. 

IJeyond  the  Jordan  kindred  I  see, 
Pure  as  the  lily,  looking  for  me ; 
Saved  from  all  trouble,  grief  and  distress. 
Waiting  God's  order,  go  thou  and  bless. 

Chorus — 

Smiling  this  way.  yes,  smiling  this  way, 
Blood-washed  are  waving  banners  this  way ; 
Pure  as  their  Savior,  up  on  His  throne, 
Throwing  me  kisses,  saying  come  home. 

Father  and  mother  now  in  that  land, 
Wait  for  the  ferry,  bringing  that  band 
Off  from  yon  hillside,  over  the  tide, 
Near  to  the  throne,  close  up  to  His  side. 

Cho. 


94  STEPPING  STONES  TO   GLORY 

Sweet  little  Mary,  mother's  "delight, 
Gone  to  that  land,  where  there  is  no  night ; 
Safe  with  the  angels,  happy  and  true, 
Praying  to  Jesus,  mother,  for  you. 

Cho. 

Brother  and  sister,  passed  on  before, 
Point  to  our  Jesus,  the  open  door; 
Still  interceding  at  the  great  throne, 
Father,  forgive  them,  in  the  old  home! 

Cho. 

(Tune  in  Sacred  Songs,  page  211.) 


STEPPING   STONES   TO    GLORY  95 


£>anrttfirattmt  (ttafo). 

1 

Sanctification,  holiness  and  perfection  are 
correlative  terms.  Each  one  implies  and  in- 
volves the  other.  In  the  commercial  world:,  the 
terms  debtor  and  creditor  are  employed.  There 
cannot  be  a  debtor  without  a  creditor  and  vice 
versa.  If  we  speak  of  a  person  as  a  creditor, 
we  absolutely  know  that  somewhere  in  this 
world  there  is  a  debtor.  So  not  having  space 
in  this  little  book  to  dwell  at  length  on  each 
particular  form  of  the  one  gospel  fact,  fitness 
to  appear  before  God  in  judgment,  and  thor- 
ough preparation  to  spend  an  eternity  of  glory, 
we  will  by  God's  help  try  to  confine  our  re- 
marks principally  to  sanctification  and  holi- 
ness. First,  what  are  we  to  understand  by  that 
long  word  sanctification  ?  By  consulting  our 
standard  dictionary,  many  meanings  are  men- 
tioned, but  the  one  central  thought  is,  that  of 
cleansing,  purifying.  It  also  means  to  set 
apart.  This  latter  definition  is  very  vague  and 
unsatisfactory,  if  left  without  further  qualify- 
ing, from  the  fact  that  things  both  animate  and 


96  STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY 

inanimate,  accountable  and  unaccountable,  may 
be  sanctified. 

That  organ  in  yonder  church,  an  inanimate 
thing,  is  sanctified  (set  apart  for  the  exclusive 
glory  of  God),  but  did  Jesus  hang  upon  the 
cross  that  it  might  be  saved  ?  Was  his  aton- 
ing blood  spilled;  for  it  ?  O,  no.  And  there  are 
those  dirty  dishes  upon  yonder  table,  they  must 
be  sanctified  (washed,  cleansed).  Did  God  so 
love  them  that  He  gave  His  only  begotten  son, 
etc.,  (Jno.,  3:16),  to  die  and  rise  again  for 
them.?  Nay  verily.  For  what,  or  who,  then, 
was  this  biblical  sanctification  intended  ?  Why 
obviously  for  God's  babes  in  Christ.  I.  Cor., 
3  :l-4.  The  true  signification  then,  according 
to  the  idiom  of  God's  word1,  is  to  cleanse,  pur- 
ify, purge,  to  make  holy,  and  according  to  our 
catechism  No.  3  we  learn  that  sanctification  is 
that  act  (not  growth)  of  God's  free  grace 
whereby  a  justified  child  of  God  is  made 
holy.  This,  beloved  reader,  is  the  work  of  the 
atonement. 

Dr.  Godbey  says,  "Sanctification  is  one  of 
the  plainest,  clearest  and  most  significant  words 
in  the  Bible.  How  sweet  it  is  to  know  that  the 
Holy  Spirit  selected  the  right  words  in  every 


STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY  97 

case  to  make  His  revelation.  Sanctify  (Greek) 
hagiadzoo,  is  a  compound  of  two  Greek  words, 
the  prefix  alpha,  the  strongest  negative  in  the 
language,  and  gee,  the  earth,  or  the  world. 
Hence  hagiadzoo  means  to  take  the  world  out, 
or  to  purify  since  the  world  is  fallen,  corrupt, 
subjugated  and  dominated  by  Satan.  I.  Jno., 
2  :16,  tells  us  the  contents  of  the  world,  namely, 
the  lust  of  the  flesh,  the  lust  of  the  eye,  and 
the  pride  of  life;  i.  e.,  fallen  nature  in  the 
aggregate,  i.  e.,  depravity,  i.  e.,  inbred,  in- 
dwelling, original  sin.  Of  course  the  removal 
of  the  world,  i.  e.,  fallen  nature  out  of  your 
heart,  cleanses  your  heart. 

Beloved  reader,  have  you  any  serious  objec- 
tion to  God,  through  the  blood  of  His  Son  (by 
faith  in  that  blood)  removing  all  sin  from 
your  heart  ?  If  so  would  you  want  it  to  be 
known  in  Heaven,  that  by  so  objecting  you  pre- 
fer the  company  of  devils  in  hell  to  that  of 
angels  in  Heaven  ?  For  if  you  will  kindly 
allow  me  to  jog  your  memory,  there  are  only 
four  fundamental  facts  treated  of  in  the  sacred 
word  of  God.  Heaven,  Hell,  Christian,  Sin- 
ner. Heaven  for  the  Christian  (holy  person)  ; 
hell  for  the  sinner  (unholy  nerson).  And 


98  STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY 

again  these  four,  when  analyzed  are  resolved 
into  only  two  questions — the  sin  question  and 
the  Son  question.  The  first  question  is  set- 
tled. The  Father  and  the  Son  in  Heaven  ar- 
ranged that.  So  that  God  became  reconciled 
to  you  by  the  atoning  blood.  Now  the  last 
and  only  question  to  be  adjusted  is  the  Son 
question.  That  is  to  be  settled  between  the 
sinner  and  the  Son  of  God,  as  to  pardon  and 
between  the  pardoned  child  of  God  and  the  Son, 
for  entire  cleansing. 

So,  beloved,  the  question  once  more  con- 
fronts you  (if  you  have  not  already  done  so), 
what  will  you  do  at  this  minute  with  Jesus  as 
your  sanctifier.  I.  Cor.,  1 :30,  God  says  to  you 
at  this  instant,  "Choose  ye  this  day." 

The  same  author  (Godbey)  further  says 
the  negative  process  of  cleansing  is  instan- 
taneous and  complete;  the  positive  i.  e.,  filling 
you  with  love,  may  be  gradual,  and  with  spir- 
itual enlargement,  indefinitely  progressive. 
Sanctification  negatives  depravity,  i.  e.,  it  takes 
the  world  out,  i.  e.,  fallen  nature  out  of  you; 
holiness  negatives  ailment,  that  is,  it  makes 
you  whole ;  while  perfection  negatives  deficien- 
cy, affirms  completeness  in  Christ.  So  in  sane- 


STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY  99 

tification  we  lose  all  sin  and  all  sinful  tenden- 
cies. Then  the  spirit  fills  the  vacuum  with  the 
pure  love  of  God,  and  thus  finishes  our  Chris- 
tian character.  We  may  be  but  babes  in 
Christ  and  must  grow  to  maturity. 

The  wonderfully  rapid  growth  we  make  and 
enjoy  when  entirely  sanctified  soon  reaches 
proximate  maturity,  but  while  this  growth 
continues  with  ever  increasing  rapidity  through 
time  and  eternity,  it  can  never  reach  absolute 
maturity.  (This  will  be  explained  further  on 
in  the  book.)  But,  praise  the  Lord,  maturity  is 
nowhere  recognized  as  a  qualification  for 
Heaven.  Purity  alone  fits  us  for  glory.  The 
same  authority  testifies  that  he  grew  more  in 
this  sanctified  realm  in  nineteen  days,  than  he 
did  in  nineteen  years  in  his  pardoned,  or  jus- 
tified, life.  And,  for  the  glory  of  God  and  to 
encourage  his  children,  the  writer  of  this  book 
would  also  add  his  testimony  that,  after  he  re- 
ceived this  wonderful  cleansing  and  filling  the 
Holy  Spirit  taught  him  more  scripture,  ac- 
companied with  power,  in  ninety  days  than 
he  received  while  in  the  M.  E.  Church  as  mere- 
ly a  grown-up  baby  for  more  than  twenty  years. 
I  say  this  with  sorrow  of  heart,  because  I  have 


100  STEPPING   STONES  TO   GLORY 

learned  since,  that  this  dereliction  is  nut  in 
God's  order.  It  is  only  eleven  days'  jourm-v 
from  Mt.  Horeb  on  the  banks  of  the  Red  Sea  to 
Kadesh-Barnea,  on  the  border  of  ( 'anaan. 
But  the  children  of  Israel  wandered  in 
this  up  and  down,  sinning  and  repent- 
ing, wretched  wilderness  experience  for 
forty  years,  and  at  last  perished  in  the 
wilderness  by  their  unbelief.  They  would 
not  believe  the  minority  report.  Come  let  us 
go  ur».  for  we  are  well  able  to  possess  the  land. 
The  writer  is  pained  to  see  how  literally  the 
same  spirit  is  exhibited  in  the  modern  church. 
If  it  was  popular,  and  the  majority  brought 
in  the  report,  how  different  things  would  be. 
Our  prayer  meetings  and  class  meetings  would 
vouch  for  this  statement.  Also  the  young  con- 
verts who  are  born  in  the  cottage  prayer  meet- 
ings would,  on  coming  into  or  uniting  with  the 
church,  very  soon  march  from  Kadish-Barnea 
into  the  Canaan  of  perject  love,  instead  of 
freezing  to  death  at  the  next  New  Year's  dance 
or  by  P.  T.  Barnum's  circus  driving  into  town. 
It  was  either  Dr.  Daniel  Steel  or  Dr.  William 
Jones  who  said  words  something  like  these: 
"Taking  a  young  convert  into  one  of  our  mod- 


STEPPING    STONES   TO   GLORY  101 

ern  churches,  is  like  placing  a  newly-born  babe 
upon  its  dead  mother's  breast  to  receive  nutri- 
ment an  1  instruction,  and  further  the  receiving 
of  large  numbers  into  the  Church,  is  like  en- 
larging a  graveyard."  But,  all  glory  to  Jesus, 
your  humble  servant  can  truthfully  hand  in 
his  testimony  on  the  Lord's  side,  that  there  is 
no  need  of  freezing  to  death  or  dying  just  be- 
cause our  mother  is  dead  (or  even  while  we 
walk  through  a  cemetery.  The  command  to 
each  and  all  of  God's  children  is,  "Be  ye  filled 
with  the  Spirit."  Eph.,  5  :18.  And  that  Spirit 
is  Jesus  Himself.  When  He  walked  the  shores 
of  Galilee  performing  His  mission  of  love  in 
healing  all  who  were  brought  to  Him,  etc., 
then  He  was  the  GodLman;  God  and  man,  but 
now  the  promised  Comforter  comes  to  us  in  this, 
the  third  and  last  dispensation  as  God-spirit — 
God  and  spirit.  And  again  in  Eph.,  3:17-20. 
( 'hrist  says,  "I  want  to  dwell  in  your  hearts 
by  faith,  that  ye,  being  rooted  and  grounded  in 
perfect  love,  may  be  able  to  comprehend  with 
all  saints,  what  is  the  breadth,  and  length,  and 
depth  and  height ;  and  to  know  the  love  of 
Christ  which  passeth  (human  knowledge),  that 
ye  might  be  filled  with  all  the  fulness  of  God." 


102  STEPPING    STONES   TO   GLORY 

My  dear,  reader,  are  you  so  filled  ?  Do  you  not 
see  at  a  glance  that,  when  God  and  Jesus  thus 
walks  and  talks  with  you  (Jesus  is  truthful) 
He  says,  We,  my  Father  and  I,  will  make  our 
abode  with  you.  (Within  our  heart.)  Being 
thus  filled  we  can  then  walk  through  any  grave- 
yard fearlessly.  Oh,  glory  ot  God !  How  can 
this  be?  Why  just  listen  to  the  pilot  within 
and  then  obey  Him,  as  he  looks  out  of  the 
windows  of  the  soul  and  says,  "I  will  guide 
thee  with  my  eye."  "I  will  teach  you  in  the, 
way  that  you  should  go.". 

Beloved,  the  great  question  is,  will  you  sub- 
mit to  His  guilding  and  His  teaching?  Lis- 
ten !  Jesus  is  now  making  you  one  of  His 
thousands  of  promises.  "I  will  never  leave  you 
nor  forsake  you."  (This  being  the  case,  and 
there  is  a  separation,  who  left  ?)  Saving  unto 
you,  "Fear  not,  I  will  hold  thee  by  thy  right 
hand."  Why  so,  dear  Lord  ?  "Because  thou 
are  mine.  And  because  you  did  permit  me  to 
cleanse  and  fill  you  with  myself;  therefore 
(since  that  time)  thou  are  precious  in  Mv 
sight."  And  what !  are  there  more  of  thy  pre- 
cious promises  ?  Yes,  more  than  twenty  thou- 
sand. Child,  be  srill  just  a  little.  "When 


STEPPING   STOXES   TO   GLORY  103 

thou  passeth  through  the  waters,  I  will  be  with 
thee,  and  through  the  rivers,  they  shall  not  over- 
flow thee;  also  when  thou  passeth  through  the 
fire  (of  affliction)  thou  shalt  not  be  burned." 
Hallelujah  to  God  and  the  Lamb  forever!  It 
pays  me  to  be  cleansed  and  filled. 

Again,  sanctification,  holiness  and  perfec- 
tion are  a  trinity.  As  the  Father,  Son  and 
Holy  Spirit  constitute  the  Goahood,  the  body, 
mind  and  soul  constitute  the  human  being,  so 
sanctification,  holiness  and  perfection,  are  the 
completeness  of  the  Christlike  character.  While 
they  are  correlative,  yet  they  are  separate  and 
distinct  in  their  functional  offices,  as  has  al- 
ready been  mentioned.  Sanctification  acts  the 
part  of  the  washerwoman.  Yonder  are  those 
dirty,  impure  clothes  lying  in  the  wash  tub. 
If  they  were  left  to  themselves,  how  long  would 
it  be  before  they  would  be  clean?  But,  by  the 
sanctifier  (the  washerwoman)  applying  the 
soap  and  the  water,  the  rinsing  water,  etc., 
they  will  soon  be  upon  the.  line,  white  and  pure 
in  the  blazing  sun.  Just  so  with  the  unclean 
human  heart.  If  it  will  only  get  into  the  w-ash 
tub  (upon  Jesus  Christ,  the  altar)  and  submit 
to  the  cleansing  by  Him  who  sanctifies,  just  in 


104  STEPPING   STOXES   TO   GLORY 

one  moment  of  time  that  heart  will  be  hanging 
upon  the  hallelujah  line,  having  the  full  blaze 
of  the  Son  of  Righteousness  lighting,  warming 
and  filling  it. 

Satan  would,  and  perhaps  does,  mystify  and 
bewilder  many  honest  and  hungry  hearts  by  the 
growth  question.  The  mistake  so  many,  many 
make  right  here  (as  has  already  been  treated 
of)  is  in  not  giving  due  attention  to  those  small 
qualifying  prepositions  "in"  and  "into."  Ex- 
ample: Tthat  beautiful  plant  in  the  garden 
would  never  grow  "into"  the  house;  hence  it 
might  lose  its  beauty,  and  perhaps  its  life  by 
the  frosts  of  winter.  But,  by  gentle  hands 
carrying  it  "into"  the  house  (grace),  it  then 
develops,  grows,  blooms  and  blesses  the  in- 
mates. "I  am  the  Lord  which  sanctifies  you." 
God  does  it.  And1,  after  the  vessel  is  washed 
clean,  God  promises  to  do  something  more  to 
it.  "I  will  put  My  Spirit  within  you." 

A  learned  doctor  of  divinity  has  said :  The 
baptism  with  the  Holy  Ghost  cannot  be,  until, 
first,  there  is  a  vessel  to  fill,  and  second,  a 
cleansed  vessel.  Cleansing  and  filling  are 
usually  (not  always)  accomplished  at  the  same 
operation  in  the  Christian,  as  in  the  case  of 


STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY  105 

pardon,  regeneration  and  adoption  in  the  case 
of  the  sinner  at  conversion.  But  in  all  cases  to 
be  safe  and  strong,  the  witness  to  the  same 
should 'be  had.  The  Indian  evangelist  David, 
speaks:  "Brother  Christian,  you  are  born  of 
God,  you  are  walking  with  God,  but  you  are 
not  filled  with  God.  Unless  you  get  the -filling 
ilici-c  is  no  power  in  your  work.  Why  are  so 
many  preachers,  Sunday  school  teachers  and 
Christian  workers  getting  so  tired  of  their 
work?  The  secret  is,  they  have  not  got  this 
power.  They  are  working  in  their  own  line, 
with  the  energy  of  the  flesh.  -May  the  Lord 
God  help  you." 

This  statement  of  itself,  coming  from  such  a 
spirit-filled  man  of  God -ought  to  be  sufficient 
evidence  of  the  necessity  of  a  clean  heart.  Be- 
cause God's  order  is  'that  the  vessel  shall  be 
cleansed  from  all  filthiness  of  the  flesh  and 
spirit,  before  the  Author  of  all  power  takes 
possession.  Acts,  1:8.  At  the  beginning  of 
this  work  it  has  been  explained  how  sins  are 
pardoned  and  sin  cleansed  away.  God  cannot 
cleanse  away  actual  guilt,  our  wilful  acts  of 
violence  to  His  •  law ;  neither  can  the  blood  of 
Jesus  pardon  (sin)  inherited  depravity.  Ex- 


106  STEPPING   PTONES   TO   GLORY 

ample:  A  mother  is  cleaning  house  for  ex- 
pected company.  She  is  all  tired  out,  with 
nerves  •  unstrung ;  she  has  just  put  the  finishing 
touch  to  the  pictures,  curtains  and  carpets  and 
has  just  repaired  to  the  kitchen  to  prepare  sup- 
per. There  is  the  little  four-year-old  Mary, 
the -darling  of  her  mother's  heart,  playing  with 
her  doll.  It  has  been  raining  and  the  yard  is 
mud  and  water.  The  mother  says  to  her  child : 
Mary,  my  sweet  little  one, -please  don't  go  out 
of  the  house ;  it  is  muddy.  Yes,  mamma.  But 
while  mother  is  busy,  Mary  has  upset  the  ink 
on  the 'lace  curtains  and  carpet,  and  comes  in 
at  the  front  door  with  mud  on  her  hands  and 
face,  crying.  The  mother  comes  to  her  rescue, 
takes  in  the  situation  at -a  glance,  and,  the  next 
instant,  slap  goes  her  hand  and  away  goes  Mary 
to  the  floor.  But,  as  quick  as  a  flash,  the- mother 
has  her  darling  in  her  arms,  and  with  kisses 
and  caresses  and  assurances  that  •  she  did  not 
mean  to  do  that,  administers  candy  and  sugar 
plums  until  quiet  is  restored.  Then  seeking 
her  room,  asks  God  to -forgive  her  for  striking 
her  darling  in  such  a  manner.  And  with  Paul 
in  Kom.,  7,  tells  Him  that,  "When  I  would 
do  good, -evil  is  present  with  me." 


STEPPING  STONES   TO    GLORY  107 

Reader,  there  was  something  in  that  mother's 
heart  that  was  contrary  to  her  better  nature. 
What  was  it  ?  Sin  !  The  inherited  depravity, 
the  effects' of  the  devil's  spawn  already  spoken 
of.  But  how  about  that  mud  upon  Mary's 
face  (  There  she  stands  crying,  and  sorry  for 
transgressing  the  commandment  of  her  mother 
and  asking  her  mother  to  forgive  her.  The 
mother  comes  out  of  her  room  from  off  her 
knees.  She  again  hugs  Mary  to  her  bosom  and 
says,  Mary,  dear,  I  have  •  forgiven  you.  But, 
mamma,  please  pardon  this  mud  off  my  face. 
O,  child,  I  cannot  do  that ;  you  are  asking 
me  to  do -something  which  God  himself  could 
not  do.  He,  for  Christ's  sake,  has  pardoned  me 
for  my  rash  act  just  now,  and  I  have  forgiven 
or  pardoned  you -for  going  out  of  doors  when  I 
told  you  not  to.  This  mud  on  your  face  must 
be  sanctified  off.  (O,  I  forget  myself;  I  am 
talking  to  a -child.)  It  must  be  cleansed,  that 
means  washed  off.  Just  stand  here  a  minute 
till  I  get  a  sponge  and  soapy  water,  then  I  will 
show  you  what  I  mean.  The  mother  then 
enters  the  room  with  smiles  and  with  one  stroke 
across  Mary's  face  the  mud  disappears.  Now 
look  in  the  mirror,  dear.  Mary  looks,  and 


108  STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY 

with  smiling,  dimpled  rosy  cheeks,  exclaims, 
Why,  the  mud  is  gone.  San-fi-ta-tion  did  it. 

Yes,-  my  beloved  reader,  just  so  with  the 
truly  regenerated  child  of  God.  As  that 
mother  told  her  child  to  tarry  till  she  came 
with  the  sponge,  so  God,  in  His  word  tells  His 
child  to  tarry.  Where?  At  the  altar.  What 
for  ?  For  the  promise  of  the  Father,  who  says, 
"I  will  put:  My  Spirit  within  you."  Eze., 
36  :27.  Christian,  are  you  still  doubting  God's 
word  ?  Hark !  He  speaks  to  you  yet  again. 
"Though  it  tarry,  wait  for  it,  because  it  will 
surely  come,  it  will  not  tarry."  Hab.,  2  :3.  The 
obedient  one  hundred  and  twenty  who  were 
asking,  seeking  and ;  knocking  and  believing  and 
expecting  God  would  do  what  he  said  he  would 
do  tarried  for  ten  days,  and  if  you  still  think 
God  is  derelict  or  slack  concerning  His  prom- 
ise (after  that  His  conditions  are  met),  please 
read  Acts,  2 :4.  And  they  were  all  filled  with 
the  Holy  Ghost,  and  blessed  be  God  then  they 
began  to  do  something. 

But  does  the  reader  ask  why  go  to  the  altar  ? 
Listen !  While  God  Himself,  with  His  own 
Spirit  and  word,  answers  your  inquiry :  "What- 
soever touches  it,  shall  be  holy"  (in  His  sight 


STEPPING    STONES   TO   GLORY  109 

not  man's  sight).  Ex.,  29  :37.  Do  you  ask  for 
another  witness?  Beloved,  please  allow  me 
the  privilege  of  introducing  to  you  my  Sanc- 
tifier  (Jesus).  He  says,  "The  altar  sanctifies 
the  gift."  The  gift  that  pleases  him  the  best  is 
yourself.  Can  he  have  you  ?  Will  you 
gratify  him  in  that  way?  Oh,  my  dear  brother, 
sister,  do  please  say  to  him,  yes.  But  be  very 
sure  you  do  not  seek  the  blessing,  as  you  will 
never  get  it.  Seek  Him,  the  blesser.  "It"  is  an 
indefinite  thing ;  "Him"  is  a  personality.  God 
has  shown  the  writer  in  unmistakable  terms 
why  so  many  good  justified  Christians  are  not 
sanctified  till  upon  •  their  death  bed.  One  rea- 
son is,  they  do  not  expect  it,  or  seek  it  sooner; 
and  of  course,  they  will  not  get  it  sooner;  not 
suspecting' their  great  loss  in  glory.  By  so  put- 
ting it  off,  they  are  sure  to  be  paupers  in 
Heaven  with  starless  crowns.  They  may  have 
crowns,  but  those  crowns  will  certainly  be 
starless. 

Another  reason  why  so  many  who  seek  for 
the  cleansing  and  the  filling  and  fail,  is  be- 
cause they  do  not  pay  the  price.  Your  un- 
worthy servant  knows  for  a  certainty,  backed 
by  the  word  of  God  and  his  own  case,  that  if  a 


110  STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY 

regenerated  child  makes  a  death  bed  consecra- 
tion (as  a  rule)  he  or  she,  will  not  have  time  to 
get  upon  their  feet  without  the  blesser,  the 
promised  "My  Spirit."  The  trouble  with  some 
is,  that  they  are  not  honest  with  God.  They 
play  the  part  of  Ananias  and  Sapphira,  keeping- 
back  something.  It  might  be,  in  their  sight,  the 
very  smallest,  insignificant  thing,  but  do  yon 
not  remember  it  was  only  those  few  things  in 
Achan's  tent,  and  hid  away  out  of  sight  at  that, 
which  caused  the  inhabitants  of  Ai  to  defeat, 
chase  and  humiliate  Israel  ?  But  if  you  go  to 
the  altar  and  make  such  an  entire  consecration, 
you  will  find  that  while  there,  God'  will  dip  the 
sponge  of  His  love  into  the  blood  of  His  Son, 
and  say,  "The  blood  of  Jesus  Christ,  His  Son, 
cleanseth  you  (now)  from  all  sin." 

Satan's  spawn  is  transmitted  from  par- 
ent to  child  down  through  all  the  ages.  It  may 
be  asked,  is  there  any  scrinture  proof  where  this 
depravity  first  cropped  out  of  Eve  ?  Yes, 
many  of  them,  but  we  will  only  have  space  for 
one  case.  Eve's  first  child  was  Cain,  the  second 
was  Abel.  Without  going  into  detail,  we  learn 
that  Cain  picked  up  that  club  and  smashed  out 
the  brains  of  his  brother  Abel.  There  lies  Al>« •!. 


STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY  111 

a  corpse,  and  there,  hid  away  in  the  brush,  un- 
der awful  condemnation  hides  Cain,  a  murder- 
er. But  what  impelled  or  caused  Cain  to  pick  up 
that  terrible  bludgeon '?  We  do  not  have  far 
to  go  for  the  answer.  Anger,  hatred.  Where 
did  those  things  come  from  ?  Previous  to 
Satan's  acquaintance  with  Eve,  not  one  woivl 
in  God's  sacred  book  even  hints  at  such  things ; 
hut  gives  us  to  understand  that  they  were  pure 
enough  to  walk  and  to  talk  and  hold  sweet 
communion  with  their  Creator.  Hence  it  is 
proof  positive  that  this  cursed  thing  mentioned 
in  the  Bible  as  the  "root  of  bitterness,  "the 
carnal  mind,"  "the  old  man,"  etc.,  are  the  prod- 
ucts of  Satan  which  cannot  be  pardoned,  and 
yet  it  must  be  eliminated  from  the  human 
heart,  subsequent  to  conversion  and  before  we 
can  behold  God's  face  in  Heaven.  "Follow 
holiness,  without  which  no  man, 
(woman,  boy  or  girl  after  the  years  of  ac- 
countability) shall  see  the  Lord."  Heb.,  12:14. 
My  Christian  reader,  did  you  get  hold  of 
those  last  words  "without  it" — holiness?  God 
says,  you  shall  not  see  My  face.  Dare  you 
assume  the  audacity  of  saying  to  Him,  but  I 
will  show  you  (God).  I  will  in  spite  of  You 


112  STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY 

or  Your  word,  and  run  the  terrible  risk  of 
grieving  Him  to  that  extent  of  •  leaving  you  for- 
ever or  striking  you  dead  upon  the  spot  ?  Had 
you  not  better  humble  yourself,  and  praise  Him 
that  He  allows  you  the  privilege  of  coming  to 
Him  at  all,  and  especially  on  His  own  loving 
terms  ?  Beloved,  perhaps  by  this  time  your 
heart  is  saying  this  is  the  very -thing  my  heart 
is  longing  for,  but  how  am  I  to  get  it  ? 

Before  answering  that  question,  permit  us 
to  cite  you  to  a  few  quotations  from  John 
Wesley's  "Plain  Account  of  Christian  Per- 
fection." Pages  10,  11.  Question:  Is  there 
any  clear  scripture  promise  of  this ;  that  God 
will  save  us  from  all  sin  ?  Answer.  There  is. 
Psa.,  130:8:  He  shall  redeem  Israel  from  all 
his  iniquities.  This  is  more  largely  expressed 
in  the  prophecy  of  Eze. :  "Then  will  I  sprinkle 
clean  water  upon  you,  and  ye  shall  be  clean ; 
from  all  your  filthiness,  and  from  all  your 
idols  will  I  cleanse  you;  I  will  also  save  you 
from  all  your  uncleannesses."  Eze.,  36:25,  29. 
Xo  promise  can  be  more  clear.  And  to  thi?  the 
apostle  plainly  refers  in  that  exhortation. 
"Having  these  promises,  let  us  cleanse  our- 
selves from  all  filthiness  of  flesh  and  spirit,  per- 


STEPPING   STOKES   TO   GLORY  113 

fecting  holiness  in  the  fear  of  God."  II.  Cor., 
7  :1.  Equally  clear  and  express  is  that  ancient 
promise,  "The  I4ord  thy  God  will  circumcise 
thy  heart,  and  the  heart  of  thy  seed,  to  love  the 
Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart  and  with  all 
thy  soul."  Dent.  30:6.  Question:  But  does 
any  assertion  answerable  to  this,  occur  in  the 
Xew  Testament  ?  Answer.  There  does ;  and 
that  laid  down  in  the  plainest  terms.  So  in 
I.  John,  3:8:  "For  this  purpose  the  Son  of 
God  was  manifested,  that  he  might  destroy  the 
works  of  the  devil,  without  any  limitation  or 
restriction,  but  all  sin  is  of  the  devil.  Parallel 
to  which  is  the  assertion  of  St.  Paul,  Eph. 
5  :25,  27.  'Christ  loved  the  church  and  gave 
Himself  for  it.  *  *  *  That  he  might  pre- 
sent it  to -Himself  a  glorious  church,  not  having 
spot  or  wrinkle  or  any  such  thing,  but  that  it 
should  be  holy  and  without  blemish."  Chris- 
tian, yoTi  are  that  church ;  do  you  see  what  is 
required  of  you  ?  And  to  the  same  effect  is 
his  assertion  in  Horn.,  8 :3-4,  "God  sent  His 
Son,  that  the  righteousness  of  the  law  might 
be  fulfilled  in  us  who  walk  not  after  the  flesh 
but  after  the  Spirit."  Having  these  precious 
truths,  we  beg  of  you,  thou  child  of  the  most 


114  STEPPING  STONES  TO  GLORY 

high  God,  in  Jesus'  name  to  listen  to,  and  put 
into  execution  the  solution  given  by  Dr.  God- 
bey.  "Sanctification  -will  solve  all  your  diffi- 
culties. The  true  policy  is  to  get  the  expe- 
rience. It  is  like  regeneration  and  everything 
else  that  God  does,  mysterious.  Don't  trouble 
yourself  about  the  difficulties,  but  go  to  God 
and  get  the  Blesser  and  the  blessing;  and  call 
it  what  you  please,  explain  it  as  you  please, 
but  get  it  and  keep  it.  You  must  have  it  or 
there  is  no  Heaven  for  you.  Be  sure  you  yet 
it  and  keep  it  and  Heaven's  wide  opening  gate 
bids  you  welcome." 

Your  unworthy  servant  had  it  four  years 
before  he  knew  what  was  the  matter  with  him, 
or  what  to  call  it,  God  using  him  in  a  remark- 
able manner  all  the  time.  To  Jesus  be  all  the 
glory.  -  Amen !  But  let  us  go  back  to  the  ques- 
tion, How  shall  I  obtain  a  clean  heart  ?  First, 
you  must  be  born  again,  be  sure  of  this ;  second, 
you  must  have  claiming  faith.  If  you  do  not 
it  is  impossible  to  please  God ;  third,  you  must 
be  willing  to  pay  the  price,  "all  the  world" 
(hagiadzoo)  to  take  the  world  out ;  fourth,  you 
must  make  a  death  bed  consecration  and  you 


STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY  115 

will  get  at  that  moment  a  death  bed  sanctifiea- 
tion.  ! 

The  minute  you  are  as  honest  with  God  now, 
as  you  will  be  upon  your  dying  bed,  that  mo- 
ment you  will  receive  a  surprise  party  in  your 
soul.  Says  Dr.  Carradine:  When  the  wit- 
ness comes  we  need  not  that  any  man  should 
teach  us  what  has  happened.  (Please  read1  I. 
John,  2:27.)  The  soul  is  thrilled  with  the 
purifying  work  and  the  testifying  spirit.  We 
know  that  the  inbred  sin  is  gone  and  that  the 
heart  is  pure.  Here  is  the  time  shouts,  over- 
flowing gladness,  radiant  smiles,  joyous  laugh- 
ter, happy  tears,  or  a  great  still  peace,  accord- 
ing to  the  temperament  of  the  individual.  This 
is  what  the  seeker  wanted  to  experience  at  the 
first,  but  what  cannot  possibly  take  place  until 
the  last.  It  is  never  to  be  worked  up,  but  comes 
spontaneously,  the  instant  the  Holy -Spirit  wit- 
nesses to  the  accomplished  work  in  the  soul. 

We  do  not  have  to  work  it  up ;  it  works  it- 
self up.  It  may  come  like  a  cyclone,  or  it  may 
be  breathed  on  <  the  heart  as  gently  as  the  eve- 
ning zephyrs  from  the  south;  but  in  either  case 
the  soul  will  know  perfectly  well  what  has  hap- 
pened, an  1  will  rejoice  accordingly.  This, 


116  STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY 

then,  is  the  order  of  the  work  of  grace.  The 
word  preached.  Conviction  for  inbred  sin. 
Prayer.  Entire  consecration.  Continued 
prayer.  Faith.  The  divine  instantaneous 
work.  The  witness  of  the  spirit.  The  soul's 
knowledge.  The  feeling.  Established. 

Refining  fire,  go  through  my  heart, 

Illuminate  my   soul ; 
Scatter  thy  life  through  every  part ; 

And  sanctify  the  whole. 
O,  that  He  now  frcm  Heaven  might  fall, 

And  all  my  sins  consume! 
Come,  Holy  Ghost,  for  thee  we  call, 

Spirit  of  burning,  come. 

Amen  !     In  Jesus'  name. 


STHPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY  117 


In  Genesis,  2 :7,  we  read,  "And  the  Lord 
God  formed  man  of  the  dust  of  the  ground, 
and  breathed  into  his  nostrils  the  breath  of 
life,  and  man  became  a  living- soul."  The  fact 
that  God  breathed  into  the  nostril,  may  be  taken 
as  metaphorical.  Because  God  could  just  as 
easily  and  as  successfully  breathed  into  his 
mouth,  or  his  ear,  and  have  accomplished  the 
same  result — that  of  imparting  his  own  im- 
mortality. But  the  emphasis  is  to  be  placed 
upon  the  breath,  notwithstanding  that  breath 
was  not  God  in  its  absolute  sense,  any  more 
than  when  Oldi-Sol  is  flooding  us  with  his  rays 
on  a  midsummer's  cloudless  day.  We  receive 
his  light,  his  heat  and  his  general  charac- 
teristics, etc.,  and  so  did  Adam  the  first,  by  re- 
ceiving God's  breath.  This  is  not  the  only  time 
when  God's  breath  was  put  into  human  flesh. 
O,  no!  "God  was  in  Christ  Jesus  reconciling 
the  world  unto  Himself,"  and  eight  days  from 
the  time  He  burst  open  the  tomb,  He  again 


118  STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY 

breathed  upon  His  children  while  assembled 
in  that  room  with  barred  and  bolted  doors 
for  fear  of  those  unpardoned,  and  unsanctified 
church  members,  for  their  temporary  supply  of 
grace  and  power,  until  they  should  receive  their 
Pentecost,  that  anointing  that  abidetb,  I. 
John,  2  :27,  and  with  gentle,  blessed,  inspiring 
intonations  said,  "Peace  be  unto  you,"  and  so 
saying,  he  breathed  on  them  (at  the  same  time 
saying  something  more),  "Receive  ye  the  Holy 
Ghost."  O  blessed  Jesus;  the  very  mention 
of  the  glorious  fact  thrills  the  writer.  O,  my 
dear  reader,  may  God,  through  His  spirit  en- 
able you  to  grasp  the  awful  situation.  A  world 
is  in  ruins !  Gods  wants  to  reconstruct  it.  He 
wants  you  to  help  Him;  will  you  let  him  use 
you  ?  He  asks  you  to  be  a  co-laborer  with  His 
Son  Jesus.  But  in  order  that  you  may  bo 
enabled  to  work  harmoniously,  He  proposes  to 
make  you  as  His  Son  is — Holy.  Can  two  walk 
(or  work)  together  unless  they  be  agreed  '. 

He  has  a  secret  to  impart  to  you.  He  is 
waiting,  knocking  at  the  door  of  your  heart, 
(if  you  are  born  again).  We  scarcely  have  the 
space,  yet  it  seems  in  order,  to  just  remind  our 
readers,  (though  no  doubt  they  fully  under- 


STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY  119 

stand  this),  how  this  world  became  destroyed 
the  third  time.  First,  it  was  by  Satan  in  the 
garden.  Second,  by  flooding  it  with  water. 
And,  third,  again  by  Satan  working  in  the 
church  and  state  as  an  angel  of  light  and  power. 
After  the  dispensation  of  the  Father 
ended,  and  the  dispensation  of  the  Son 
likewise,  the  third  and  last  dispensation, 
that  of  the  Holy  Spirit  began  on  the 
day  of  Pentecost,  then,  at  nine  o'clock  in 
the  morning  of  that  day,  the  first  apostolic 
church  was  organized  by  the  Holy  Ghost ;  and 
hence  on  Holy  Ghost  lines.  They  did  well. 
The  first  day  they  baptized  and  received  into  it 
three  thousand.  This  was  a  good  day's  work  for 
the  illiterate,  though  Spirit-filled  Peter, 
backed  by  the  Spirit-filled  one  hundred  and 
nineteen.  Hallelujah !  Just  so  long  as  the 
church  remained  Spirit-filled,  they  marched 
through  all  obstacles  and  increased  rapidly. 
But,  as  Paul  on  another  occasion,  speaking  to 
the  church  said :  "You  ran  well  for  a  season ; 
who  did  hinder  you  ?"  So  the  Apostolic  Church 
till  about  the  third  century,  ran  well. 

Peter  and  the  one  hundred  and  twenty  were 
not  there;  persecutions  became  more  frequent 


120  STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY 

and  severe ;  church  and  state  became  entangled 
Roman  power  predominated  to  the  extent  that 
the  Apostolic  Church  backslid,  and  even  to  this 
day  that  church  (as  we  are  informed)  will  not 
even  tolerate  justification  by  faith. 

Then  it  was  that  the  Holy  Spirit  became  so 
aggrieved  that  He  took  His  flight  for  about  fif- 
teen hundred  years,  which  period  has  passed 
into  history  as  The  Dark  Ages.  But,  methinks 
the  reader  is  asking,  how  about  that  great  se- 
cret just  mentioned  ?  Well,  let  us  inquire  of 
God  as  to  that.  Though  we  must  be  very  brief. 
At  the  very  edge  of  the  outside  margin  of  the 
last  days  of  the  last  dispensation,  the  time 
spoken  of  in  II.  Tim.,  4 :3-4,  which  says,  "For 
the  time  will  come  when  they  will  not  endure 
sound  doctrine;  but  after  their  own  lusts  shall 
they  heap  to  themselves  teachers,  having  itch- 
ing ears;  and  they  shall  turn  away  their  ears 
from  the  truth,  and  shall  be  turned  unto 
fables."  This  reminds  me  of  a  sennon  which  we 
heard  in  a  southern  state  by  a  D.  D.  whom 
we 'well  knew.  His  sermon  consisted  of  read- 
ing three  verses  from  the  Bible  and  relating 
five  stories.  The  larger  portion  of  the  various 
churches  of  today,  ministers  included,  will  sub- 


STEPPING    STONES   TO   GLORY  121 

init  to  this,  but  should  a  Spirit-filled,  loyal  man 
of  God  try  to  focalize,  reveal  and  discover  to 
the  masses  this  secret,  a  whole  basketful  (so  to 
.speak)  of  objections  would  be  showered  in  bis 
pathway,  and  among-  them  would  be  as  is  often 
asserted,  this  new  doctrine  of  Holiness.  Yes, 
beloved,  that  is  just  exactly  what  that  secret  is 
—Holiness.  And  now,  Holy  Spirit,  thou  author 
of  the  Bible,  please  answer  this  objection  as  to 
Holiness  being  a  new  doctrine. 

Seven  hundred  and  thirteen  years  before  the 
birth  of  Christ,  the  Holy  Spirit  in  Isa.,  35:8 
says,  "And  a  highway  shall  be  there,  and  a 
way,  and  it  shall  be  called  the  way  of  Holiness  ; 
the  unclean  (see  ?)  (you  must  be  sanctified 
or  you  cannot  receive  the  secret  which  is,  more 
properly  speaking,  the  filling  process),  shall  not 
pass  over  it,  but  it  shall  be  for  those ;  the  way- 
faring men,  though  fools,  (unlearned)  shall 
not  err  therein."  And  again  in  698  B.  C.  Isa. 
again  tells  us  to  "Lift  up  a  standard  for  the 
people,  and  they  shall  be  called  the  Holy  Peo- 
ple." Isa.  62:10-12.  Are  our  conferences 
sending  out  that  class  of  preachers  today  who 
are  lifting  up  a  standard  of  true  holiness  for 
the  people  ?  If  the  writer  had  space  and  time, 


122  STEPPING   STOKES   TO   GLORY 

he  would  like  to  analyze  and  make  an  inventory 
of  their  kind  of  standard.  But  we  will  leave 
this  with  them  and  God  to  settle  at  the  judg- 
ment. 

But  listen  to  the  Holy  Ghost  speaking 
through  Paul,  Eph.  1 :2,  as  to  this  new  doctrine, 
"According  as  he  has  chosen  u?  in  Him 
(Jesus)  before  the  foundation  of  the  world, 
that  we  should  be  holy  and  without  blame  be- 
fore Him,  (not  before  men)  in  love.''  So,  my 
beloved  Christian  reader,  you  see  that  God 
chose  you  before  he  made  the  foundations  of 
the  world.  That  is  not  very  new  certainly. 
And  for  what  purpose?  That  you  should  lie 
holy.  Do  you  think  God  means  it?  Hark! 
"Without  holiness  no  man  shall  see  the  Lord." 
Heb.  12:14.  But  just  listen  earnestly  to  the 
Holy  Spirit  while  he  speaks  to  you  yet  again 
on  this  new  doctrine.  IT.  Tim.,  1 :9.  Here 
are  two  operations.  He  first  sa-res  ard  th^'i 
he  calls  us  with  a  holy  calling.  Oh,  reader, 
for  Jesus'  sake  do  not  spurn  his  calling,  but 
say  just  now:  yes,  Lord,  I  will,  I  do  obey. 
Who  has  saved  us,  and  called  us  with  a  holy 
calling,  not  according  to  our  works,  (oyster 
suppers,  tableaux,  etc.,  etc.)  but  according  to 


STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY  123 

his  own  purpose  and  grace,  which  was  give'1. 
u <  in  Christ  Jesus  before  the  world  began. 

So  YOU  see  this  secret  was  in  God's  mind 
before -he  began  to  make  the  earth.  Do  you 
call  that  a  new-fangled  get  up  by  man's  fer- 
tile brain  ?  But  to  make  sure,  doubly  sure,  as 
though  God  would  impress  this  indelibly  upon 
your  mind,  He,  in  Titus  1 :2,  repeats  the  length 
of  time.  "In  hope  of  eternal  life,  which  God, 
that  cannot  lie,  promised  before  the  world 
began."  But,  beloved,  we  will  assure  you  of  one 
fact,  if  you  ever  get  holy,  and  become  the  re- 
cipient of  this  secret,  the  infilling  of  vour  hear!" 
and  life  by  an  indwelling,  personal  sanctifier, 
it  will  be  something  new7  to  you.  You  cannot 
explain  it.  This  secret  is  only  revealed  to 
God's  willing,  obedient  children.  See.  Psalms, 
25 :14,  "The  secret  of  the  Lord  is  -with  them 
that  fear  Him;  and  he  will  show  them  Hh 
covenant." 

By  reading  Matthew,  1  :17  we  learn  that 
Jesus  said  unto  his  already  regenerated  chil- 
dren, "Come  ye  after  me  and  I  will  make  you 
to  become  fishers  of  men."  To  be  an  expert 
in  fishing  we  must  understand  many  things, 
such  as  the  right  kind  of  bait,  hook,  net,  e'c. 


124  STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY 

So  it -is  to  become  expert  fishers  of  men.  We 
must  not  want  to  be  holy  so  that  we  can  just 
squeeze  into  Heaven.  O  no,  Jesus  has  jnsr  t  »ld 
us  he  wants  us  to  fish  for  men's  souls.  There- 
fore, it  is  very  necessary  for  us  to  be  skilled 
workmen,  annroved  unto  God.  When  God 
would  have  a  great  work  done,  he  not  only 
uses  human  instrumentalities,  but  also  schools, 
prepares  and  disciplines  them.  Before  Joseph 
could  successfully  become  the  governor  of  all 
Egypt  he  had  to  be  dispised  and  forsaken  by  his 
brothers;  he  had  to  look  through  prison  bars 
after  being  loaded  down  with  lies  and  re- 
proaches. » 

Before  the  Israelites  could  pass  through  the 
Red  sea  and  subdue  kingdoms  greater  than 
themselves,  they  had  to  be  a  nation  of  slaves 
four  hundred  years.  Before  Moses  could  be- 
come the  greatest  legislator  on  earth  he  had  to 
get  his  Pentecost  at  the -burning  bush,  and  his 
hand  become  as  a  leper.  Before  little  David 
could  kill  the  bear  and  the  lion  and  hurl  the 
pebble  into -the  giant's  forehead,  he  had  to  re- 
ceive the  anointing  oil  upon  his  head.  Before 
little  Samuel  became  the  greatest  judge  and 
prophet  in  oriental  times,  he  had  to  be  awake  1 


STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY  125 

and  called  of  God  three  times.  Before  that 
murderous  church  member  Saul  of  Tarsus 
could  make  a  king  under  conviction  shake  like 
an  ague  patient,  he  must  first  be  dumped  out  of 
(hat  saddle  at  Damascus, receive  those  sore  eyes, 
then  submit  to  the  removing' of  the  scales;  and, 
finally  stoned  and  lie  outside  Lystra  a  bleeding, 
mangled,  (supposed)  dead  man.  And  so  on 
down  through  all  the  ages. 

While  sanctification  is  Bible  subtraction, 
and  holiness  is  Bible  addition,  yet  in  practical 
operation  the  terms  are  reversed;  subtraction 
being  employed  before  addition.  Thus, 
heart,  minus  all  sin  plus  the  Holy 
Spirit,  equals  power;  equals  answer:  Pente- 
cost. But  my  friend  at.  our  left  says, 
Pentecost  is  passed,  and  there  is  no  more  for 
us  till  we  get  to  glory ;  neither  can  we  be  as 
holy  as  God  is.  These  statements  show  how 
the  mists  of  the  dark  ages  still  befog  some 
minds,  and  the  still  further  fact  that  preachers 
should  get  their  Pentecost  and  explain  the 
Scriptures  in  demonstration  of  the  Holy  Ghost 
within.  A  hint  to  the  wise  is  sufficient.  So 
we  will  just  barely  touch  on  the  constituents 
of  holiness.  The  term  holiness  when  applied  to 


126  STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY 

the  Supreme  Being  signifies  perfect  moral  pur- 
ity. God's  holiness  is  absolute,  independent 
and  underived,  while  human  holiness  is  relative, 
dependent  and  derived.  See  ?  Our  holiness 
pertains  to  the  absolute,  ours  depends  upon  the 
independent,  ours  comes  from  and  is  dependent 
upon  the  underived.  This  human  holi- 
ness then,  to  be  brief,  is  no  more  or  less 
than  for  a  man  or  woman  to  receive  and  main- 
tain their  Pentecost  (the  sanctifying  Jesus  in 
a  cleansed  soul).  "There  is  no  Pentecost  with- 
out an  ascension.  The  disciples  had  to  wait 
for  their  Pentecost  because  Jesus  had  not  yet 
ascended,  and  taken  his  seat  in  the  mediatorial 
chair  at  the  right  hand  of  the  Father.  Every 
Pentecost  since  then  has  been  preceded  by 
an  ascension."  Do  we  know  Pentecost  experi- 
mentally for  ourselves  ?  If  not,  the  reason  is 
close  at  hand :  Jesus  has  not  been  glorified  by 
us,  not  enthroned  in  our  hearts.  He  may  be 
in  our  heart,  he  may  even  be  in  the  throne 
room,  but  he  has  not  been  placed  upon  the 
throne.  He  says:  "If  I  be  lifted  up."  O,  be- 
loved reader,  have  you  lifted  our  dear  plead- 
ing, bleeding  Savior  up  and  set  Him  upon  the 
throne  of  vour  heart  without  a  rival  ?  "And 


STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY  127 

He  showed  me  a  river  of  water  of  life,  clear 
as  crystal  proceeding  out  of  the  throne  of  God 
and  the  Lamb."  Kev.,  22 :1. 

When  Jesus  reached  the  throne  fifty  days 
after  His  resurrection,  from  under  the  throne 
the  rivers  began  to  flow;  the  Holy  Ghost  was 
given.  His  church  militant  was  born  sud- 
dently,.  and  three  thousand  souls  flowed  into 
it  suddenly.  Acts,  2  :33.  TOon't  be  too  much 
concerned  how  the  rivers  flow.  They  flow  from 
Paul  in  one  way,  and  from  John  in  another. 
Be  sure  you  are  filled  with  the  Spirit.  He 
will  create  the  rivers  and  direct  them  to  the 
glory  of  the  Father.  ~No  Pentecost,  no  power ; 
no  power,  no  successful  service.  But  before 
we  close  this  subject  perhaps  we  can  make  the 
question  of  God's  holiness  and  man's  holiness 
more  plain  by  giving  a  simple  illustration. 

Example:  The  writer,  standing  by  the  At- 
lantic ocean,  takes  from  his  pocket  a  vial.  He 
stoops  down  and  fills  it  with  sea  wyater.  It  is 
returned  to  his  pocket  full  of  Atlantic  water. 
He  travels  five  hundred  miles  into  the  interior. 
He  then  removes  the  vial  from  his  pocket  and, 
if,  while  looking  at  it,  my  reader  was  to  hear 
him  say,  this  is  the  Atlantic  ocean,  you  would 


128  STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY 

at  once  speculate  as  to  his  sanity.  Ships  can 
and  do  sail  in  the  Atlantic  ocean,  but  it  would 
be  a  problem  if  they  could  sail  inside  of  that 
small  vial.  Xo,  indeed,  but  though  it  be  not. 
the  ocean,  the  water  in  the  vial  has  exactly  the 
same  properties.  It  is  the  ocean  in  kind  and 
quality,  but  not  in  quantity. 

Just  so  with  human  holiness.  God  is  love. 
And  that -is  just  what  He  is  aiming  at  in  his 
word,  by  sanctification,  holiness  and  perfection. 
And  when  a  person  is  seeking  after  other  than 
mere  love,  he  or  she  is  seeking  something  that 
is  higher  and  beyond  the  Bible;  yea,  and  even 
God  Himself.  Brother,  sister,  please  remem- 
ber God  commandingly  says  to  you,  Be  ye 
holy.  And  as  he  holds  the  sinner  guilty  if  he 
rejects  offered  righteousness,  so  He  holds  His 
justified  child  quitely  guilty  if  he  by  rebellion 
remains  unholy.  "How  shall  we  escape  of  we 
neglect  so  great  salvation."  Heb.,  2 :3.  Some- 
times, to  strengthen  our  faith,  God  permits  us 
to  wait  for  some  length  of  time  between  the 
cleansing  and  the  filling,  though  not  often  if 
the  consecration  is  entire.  The  writer  knew  of 
a  friend  who  was  sanctified  in  our  home  who 
trusted  'for  six  months,  when  suddenly  one 


STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY  129 

night  in  our  horiie  he  was  so  filled  with  the 
Spirit  that  we  had  a  picnic  on  our  hands.  He 
has  been  used  of  God  ever  since.  Praise  the 
dear  Lord ! 

Beloved,  this  holiness  or  infilling  of  your 
heart,  and  hence  your  life  by  the  Holy  Spirit, 
is  a  purchased  inheritance  expressly  for  you. 
Claim  it  now.  Claim  it  boldly.  You  are  in- 
vited so  to  do  because  the  word  tells  you  that 
the  kingdom  of  God  suffereth  violence.  Please 
become  a  Jacob  at  the  brook.  He  absolutely 
refused 'to  let  go  of  the  angel  after  a  night  of 
rough  and  tumble  wrestle.  We  can  conceive  in 
our  minds  that  the  angel  cried  at  the  top  of 
his  voice,  Let  me  go.  But- Jacob  knew  he  had 
Esau  to  meet  and  there  would  be  fatal  work 
on  hand ;  it  might  cost  him  his  life  if  he  had 
not  the  necessary  power  to  cope  with  him ;  so 
he  became  violent,  yea,  desperate  (as  all  must 
do  who  would  be  Spirit-filled),  and  shouted 
back  into  the  ears  of  the  angel,  I  will  not  let 
thee  go  except  thou  bless  me. 

Jacob,  the  trickster,  the  surplanter.  That 
name  must  be  changed  to  Israel,  the  father  of 
nations.  And  he  got  something — the  blessing. 
Brother,  sister,  there  is  a  difference  between 


130  STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY 

asking  and  claiming.  We  claim  that  which 
is  our  own.  We  ask  for  a  favor.  Example. 
I  have  fifty  dollars  in  the  bank.  I  need  fifty 
dollars.  I -present  my  check  for  and  claim  it. 
But  again :  I  have  no  money  in  the  bank.  I 
need  fifty  dollars.  Then,  in  this  case,  I  ask 
as  a  favor  for  it.  There  is  no  claiming  it 
now.  Bless  God)  the  Holy  Spirit  has  been 
promised  me  through  my  restoration  to  son- 
ship.  Acts.,  2 :38.  I  claim  my  <  birthright. 
Eze.,  36:27,  and  Acts,  2:38.  There  is  no 
room  now  for,  If  it  is  Thy  will.  Has  not  God 
told  me  it  is  His  will  ?  Yea,  has  he  not  com- 
manded me  to 'be  filled  with  the  Spirit?  But, 
on  the  other  hand,  if  we  desire  something  of 
God  which  he  has  not  expressed  definitely  as 
his  Divine  will,  then  we  are  to  ask  and  not 
claim.  Then,  in  that  case,  He  may,  or  He  may 
not,  grant  my  request.  For  instance :  A  child 
may  want  my  razor  to  play  with.  I  know  bet- 
ter than  he  does  that  it  is  not  for  his  best  in- 
terest ;  therefore  I  refuse  him  in  love.  May 
God  add  His  blessing  to  these  few  woi-f1--  i- 
my  prayer.  Amen! 


STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY  131 


Jesus,  lover  of  my  soul, 

Let  me  to  thy  bosom  fly, 

"He  shall  feed  his  flock  like  a  shepherd ;  He 
shall  gather  the  lambs  with  His  arm,  and  carry 
them  in  His  bosom."  Isa.,  40:11. 

While  the  nearer  waters  roll, 

"Thou  art  mine.  When  thou  passeth  through 
the  waters,  I  will  be  with  thee ;  and  through 
the  rivers,  they  shall  not  overflow  thee."  Isa., 
43 :2. 

While  the  tempest   still  is  high. 

Hide  me,  O,  my -Savior,  hide, 

Till  the  storm  of  life  is  past ; 

"Then  he  arose,  and  rebuked  the  winds  and 
the  sea ;  and  there  was  a  great  calm."  Matth., 
8:26. 

Safe  into  the  haven  guide, 

O  receive  my  soul  at  last! 

"Then  they  willingly  received  him  into  the 
ship:  and  immediately  the  ship  was  at  the  land 
whither  they  went."  John,  6:21. 

Plenteous  grace  with  Thee  is  found, 


132  STEPPING   STOXES   TO   GLORY 

Grace  to  cover  all  my  sin ; 

"And  he  said  unto  me,  My  grace  is  sufficient 
for  thee;  for  my  strength  is  made  perfect  in 
(thy)  weakness."  II.  Cor.,  12 :9. 

Let  the  healing  streams  abound  ; 

Make  and  keep  me  pure  within. 

"But,  if  we  walk  in  the  light  (npt  into)  as 
He  is  in  the  light,  we  have  fellowship  one  with 
another,  and  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  His  Son 
cleanseth  us  from  all  sin."  I.  John,  1 :7. 

Beloved,  do  you  believe  it  ?  Will  you  let 
it  ?  •  Have  you  ?  Do  you  now  pay  the  price  for 
it  ?  All !  The  writer  has. 

"Who,  when  he  had  found  one  pearl  of  great 
price  (Jesus),  then,  after  that,  he  went  and 
sold  all  that  he  had  (entire  consecration)  and 
bought  it."  St.  Matth.,  13:46. 


STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY  133 


iHuiitt?  After 


For  a  great  many  years  the  writer's  mind 
was  mystified  as  to  the  condition,  state  and  also 
the  employment  of  departed  souls.  But  the 
Holy  Spirit  and  the  word  have  brushed  th? 
cobwebs  away  so  that  these  points  are  seen  by 
the  writer  of  this  book  as  clearly  as  justifica- 
tion by  faith,  sanctification  by  faith  and  entire 
consecration,  or  any  other  fundamental  truth 
in  the  redemptive  scheme  by  the  blood  of  Jesus. 
And  we  praise  God  that  the  same  light  has 
been  revealed  to  that  learned  man  of  God,  Dr. 
Daniel  Steel.  We  see  in  the  witness  he  has 
c  x])ivs>ed  it  so  clearly,  that  we  take  pleasure  f  ~r 
the  glory  of  God  in  opening  other  eyes,  "and  as 
an  incentive  to  their  fitness  for  companionship 
with  His  Son  in  Paradise,  to  give  it  a  place 
in  this  book. 

Question:  Do  the  dying  go  immediately  to 
Heaven  or  hell  when  they  die,  or  do  the-'7  wait 
till  the  general  judgment  I  Answer  It  ha<  noi 
been  pleasing  to  God  to  pour  floods  of  light 


134  STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY 

on  the  state- of  the  dead  before  the  day  of  judg- 
ment. A  few  texts  suffice  to  show  that  the 
wicked  are  in  misery.  "In  hades  he  lifted  up 
his  eyes  being  in  torments."  Luke  10:23. 
hades  is  the!  invisible  world,  not  nec?ssarilv 
the  lake  of  fire,  Gehenna,  or  Tartarus.  In  his 
place  of  detention  David  is  tormented  with 
unsatisfied  desires  and  forebodings  of  great 
pain.  "The  Lord  knoweth  how  to  deliver  the 
Godly  out  of  temptation,  and  to  keep  the  un- 
righteous under  punishment  (R.  V.)  unto  the 
day  of  judgment.  II.  Pet.,  2:9.  The  A.  V. 
obscures  this  proof -of  the  suffering  of  bad  men 
before  *the  judgment.  The  revision  gives  the 
exact  meaning  of  the  Greek.  If  a  violater  of 
the  human  law  is  in  jail  and  awaiting  his  trial, 
his  guilt  must  make  him  unhapnv  before  he 
feels  the  pains  of  the  judicial  sentence. 

With  respect  to -the  righteous,  after  death, 
Jesus  said  to  the  penitent  thief,  Todav  shalt 
thou  be  with  Me  in  paradise.  To  punctuate 
thus,  Verily  I  say  unto  thee  today,  thou  shalr 
be  with  Me,  etc.,  is  exegetical  lunacy,  sav- 
Joseph  Cook.  Paul  says  to  die  is  gain  * 
having  a  desire  to  depart,  and  to  be  with  Christ, 
which  is  very  far  better."  (R.  V.  Phil.,  1  : 21- 


STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY  135 

23.)  It  is  a  double  comparative  rendered  by 
President  Timothy  Djwight,  far,  far  better. 
This  does  not  describe  an  unconscious  sleep  in 
the  tomb.  It  does  not  necessarily  indicate  that 
Paul  is  now  enjoying  the  full  reward  of  that 
state  fin  which  his  soul  and  body  reunited  will 
be  when  glorified.  Again,  II.  Cor.,  5  :l-8,  the 
idea  is  reiterated  and  expanded,  "to  be  absent 
from  the  body,  is  to  be  present  with  the  Lord." 
This  teaches  that  the  righteous  dead  are  in  the 
presence  of  the  Lord  enjoying  all  they  are  cap- 
able of  in  their  disembodied  state.  Though 
my  Heaven  is  where  Jesus  is,  I  expect  to  be 
happier  after  the  resurrection  than  before." 

In  I.  Peter,  3:19-20,  we  read:  "By  which 
Spirit  (verse  18)  also  he  went  and  preached 
unto  the  spirits  in  prison ;  which  (or  who)  were 
disobedient  in  the  days  of  Noah.  All  disobedi- 
ent souls  are  lost.  So,  of  course  they,  the 
Antediluvians  among  the  rest.  But  the  ques- 
tion is,  where  did  they  go  ?  Where  are  they 
now  ?  What,  are  they  doing  now  ?  Here  is 
subject  matter  for  a  volume,  but  which  can 
only  be  hinted  at  on  a  few  pages.  And  may 
God  help  us.  First,  as  just  Quoted,  they  went 
to  prison ;  second,  they  are  in  that  same  prison 


136  STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY 

now.  It  is  a  gigantic  prison.  It  is  as  vast  as 
the  atmosphere  that  surrounds  our  mundane 
sphere.  And  for  all  that  man  knows,  its  lati- 
tude is  between  Heaven  and  hell. 

One  thing  sure  is,  Jesus  was  in  that  prison 
preaching  to  those  sinners,  telling  them  to  re- 
pent or  he  would  turn  them  into  hell.  Psa., 
9 :17.  He,  while  in  the  flesh,  preached  to  us 
upon  the  earth  for  three  years ;  but  they  only 
had  fifty  days  wherein  to  receive  Him  or  re- 
ject Him.  He  said,  "Touch  me  not,  for  T  :•  ; 
not  yet  ascended  to  my  Father."  (To  take  the 
intercessory  office  at  the  right  hand  of  the 
throne.)  He  gave  those  disembodied  spirits 
the  same  privilege  as  we,  in  the  flesh  have,  for 
he  is  no  respecter  of  persons.  "But  as  many 
as  received  Him,  to  them  gave  He  power  to 
become  the  sons  of  God,  even  to  them  that  be- 
lieve on  His  name."  John,  1 :12.  They  got 
the  same  gospel  truths  dished  up  to  them  as 
we  have  today  in  God's  word  (not  in  all  ser- 
mons we  are  sorry  to  say)  ;  justification,  sancti- 
fication,  holiness  and  perfection. 

To  be  brief,  for  we  have  to,  the  air  is  filled 
with  good  spirits  and  evil  spirits  indiscrim- 
inately. Just  as  the  throngs  of  spirits  carried 


STEPPING  STOXES  TO  GLORY          137 

in  the  human  body  are  intermingling  and  pass- 
ing each  other  on  the  crowded  streets  of  Lon- 
don, England,  or  Chicago,  Illinois.  The -pure 
blood-washed  woman  jostles  against  that  pol- 
luted carcass  just  coming  from  the  all  night 
brothel  of  infamy.  That  pugilist  --with  swollen 
nose  and  blood-stained  face  passes  that  saint 
of  God  bearing  the  olive  branch  of  peace.  Yon- 
der goes  a  committee  of  God's  sons  to  build  a 
church.  But  at  the  crossing  just  in  front  of 
them,  two  sons  of  Belial  carrying  a  satchel,  dart 
down  the  alley.  -What  is  in  the  satchel  ?  Sonib 
infernal  machine  to  wreck  the  bank  and  mur- 
der the  cashier,  etc.,  etc. 

These  few  homely  illustrations  must  suffice. 
Job,  21:30,  says  those  wicked  spirits  "are  re- 
served (where?)  to  the  day  of  destruction; 
they  shall  be  brought  forth  -to  the  day  of 
wrath."  II.  Pet.,  2:17,  tells  us  that  those 
evil  spirits  "are  reserved  (where  ?)  for  the  mists 
of  darkness  forever."  Jude*  tells  us  almost  the 
same  thing.  And  II.  Pet.,  2:9,  says:  "The 
Lord  reserves  these  unjust  spirits  unto  the  day 
of  judgment  to  be  punished."  -Jesus  told  the 
thief  upon  the  cross  that  He  would  be  with 


138  STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY 

him   that   day   in   paradise.      Where   Jesus    is 
makes  our  paradise. 

God  walked  andi  talked  with  Adam 'and  Eve 
in  the  garden  at  the  cool  of  the  evening.  This 
walking  with  God  produced  their  paradise, 
as  walking  and  talking  with  and  in  the  Holy 
Spirit  today  produces  our  anointings,  our 
partial  paradise.  Humanity  could  not  stand 
it  long  to  be  in  the  full  effulgence  of  God's 
presence.  So  God  gave  anointings  in  the  cool 
of  the  evenings.  Jesus  knowing  weak  hu- 
manity and  knowing  the  temptations,  trials 
and  vicissitudes  that  His  disciples  must  pass 
through  before  they  received  their  Pentecost; 
also,  that  He  was  not  with  them  in  the  flesh  to 
keep  them  as  then,  He  breathed  on  them  a  tem- 
porary Pentecost,  to  last  them  until  He  took 
His  seat  at  the  right  of  His  Father.  When 
so  doing  He  telephoned  to  the  one  hundred  and 
twenty  that  the  promised  Comforter  was  on  His 
way,  and  would,  as  He  did,  put  in  His  ap- 
pearance at  nine  o'clock  a.  m.  on  Pentecost. 
So,  also,  knowing  that  their  sanctified  spirit? 
would  yet  need  to  be  further  fortified  against 
the  attacks  of  those  'disembodied  evil  spirits, 
undoubtedly,  though- not  specifically  mentioned 


STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY  139 

in  the  word  as  breathing  upon  them,  yet  from 
precedence  and  analogy,  they  in  some  way 
received  their  temporary  glorification,  thus  en- 
abling them  and  all  holy  children  of  God  to 
not  only  maintain  a  complete  separation  from 
those  evil  spirits,  but  to  be  qualified  to  do  His 
bidding.  "His  servants  ye  are  to  whom  ye 
yield  yourselves  servants  to  obey."  Rom., 
6:16. 

As  death  overtakes  us,  as  to  good  or  evil,  so 
we  enter  eternity,  eternally  progressing  in  that 
state  or  condition.  Yes,  our  masters  furnish 
us  with  plenty  of  employments.  Example: 
(  But  first  bear  this  in  mind :  whenever  there  is 
a  very  important  work  to  do,  God  the  Holy 
Spirit,  and  Satan,  the  old  serpent,  the  devil, 
attend  to  it  themselves.)  God  dispatches  an 
angel  to  John  Knox  and  Scotland  is  stirr'M,  a-d 
won.  Another  agent  imprisons  John  Bunyon, 
and  a  million  copies  of  the  Pilgrim's  Process 
go  flying  around  the  world.  Another  wdiispers 
in  the  ear  of  that  mother,  and  T.  Dewitt  Tal- 
niage  becomes  a  friend  and  neighbor  at  the  anti- 
podes of  the  earth.  All  for  the  glory  of  God. 
•lust  so  with  Satan.  He  inflamed  the  mind  of 
Wilkea  Booth,  and  a  Lincoln  was  muHered. 


140  STEPPING   STONES  TO   GLORY 

He  used  a  Guiteau  to  assassinate  a  Garfield ; 
and,  while  lie  sings  that  serene  song  to  Czol- 
gosz,  a  nation  that  was  born  by  the  prayers  of 
God's  saints,  was  caused  to  mourn  the  death  of 
our  beloved  president,  McKinley. 

God  had  a  great  work  for  Abram.  So  God 
called.  The  same  with  Moses.  So  God  met  him 
at  the  burning  bush.  So  in  the  case  of  Daniel. 
God  stopped  the  lions'  mouths,  etc.  And  wheii 
Jesus  was  fasting  for  poor  fallen  humanity, 
Satan  knew  he  had  something  on  his  hands  of 
importance.  Hence  he  tackled  Jesus  person- 
ally. You  know  Satan  was  bold  enough  pre- 
vious to  this  to  face  God  and  tell  Him  that 
Job  would,  under  certain  conditions,  curse  Him 
to  His  face.  But  in  the  majority  of  cases  we 
can  safely  say  angels  (disembodied  spirits)  are 
employed.  If  we  had  space,  more  than  five 
hundred  examples  could  be  adduced.  Satan 
did  not  come  to  this  earth  alone;  he  had  his 
servants.  Rev.  12:9.  ."And  the  great  dragon 
was  cast  out,  that  old  serpent,  called  the  devil, 
and  Satan,  which  deceiveth  the  whole  world ; 
he  was  cast  out  into  the  earth  and  his  angels 
were  cast  out  with  him." 


STEPPING   STONES   TO    GLORY  141 

GOOD  ANGELS. 

They  wait  on  God.     II.  Chron.  18  :18. 

They  announce  Christ's  nativity.  Luke  2  :9- 
15. 

They  minister  to  Christ.     Matth.  4:11. 

They  exercise  authority.  Xum.  22  :32-33  ; 
II.  Kings  1:15;  I.  Chron.  21:18. 

They  appear  as  men.  Gen.  19:1-3;  Daniel 
8:15;  10:5,  6,  9,  10,  18;  Luke  1:11. 

God  sometimes  sends  numbers  of  angels.  Psa. 
68:17;  Matth.  26:53;  Rev.  5:11. 

They  convey  God's  messages.  Isa.  6 :6-7 ; 
Daniel  8:18-19;  9:20-23;  10:12,  14;  Luke 
1:18-19. 

They  protect  God's  people.     Gen.  19  :12,  17. 

They  inflict  divine  penalties.  II.  Samuel 
24:16;  I.  Chron.  21:14,  27. 

Ministering  Spirits.  I.  Kings  19  :5,  7  ;  Psa. 
91:11-12;  Matth.  18:10. 

Guardians  of  cities  and  nations.  Eze.  9  :1 ; 
Dan.  10:13,  20,  21;  12:  1. 

SATAN  AND  HIS  ANGELS. 

Deceiver  and  liar.  John  8  :44.  (See  I.  John 
3:8.)  Acts  13:10;  II.  Chron.  10:14-15. 


142  STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY 

They  afflict.  Job  1 :12  ;  Luke  13  :16.  They 
resist  good  men.  Eze.,  3:1;  Eph.  6:12;  I. 
Thes.  2:18. 

They  tempt  men  to  sin.  I.  Chron.  21  : 1  : 
Luke  22:31;  II.  Chron.  4:4;  Rev.  2:10. 

Many  evil  spirits  may  enter  a  man  at  one 
time.  Matth.  5:8-9;  Luke  8:30. 

(A  Legion  is  from  three  to  five  thousand.) 
(The  Scripture  texts  on  pages  172  and  173  are 
taken  from  Hitchcock's  Analysis.) 

Beloved  reader,  we  may  not  all  he  world- 
renowned;  we  may  not  all  have  those  "ten  tal- 
ents," but  one  thing  is  sure — the  mostly  lowly 
and  humble  child  of  God  can,  and  ought  to  run 
on  errands  for  Him  and  receive  their,  "Well 
done;  enter  thou  into  the  joy  of  thy  Lord."  We 
expect  to  be  a  million  times  of  more  service  to 
God  after  we  fall  asleep  and  awake  up  par- 
tially glorified,  to  do  our  Heavenly  Father's 
bidding.  Then  there  will  be  no  Jordan  to 
cross.  Bless  God  that  was  crossed  at  Sanctifica- 
tion  Ford.  There  will  be  no  vacation.  We 
expect  it  will  be  with  us,  as  John  Wesley  ex- 
pected when  he  said,  "If  I  die  tonight  T  will 
awake  in  the  morning."  ~No  sorrow,  no  more 
pain,  no  separation,  no  bereavements,  never 


STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY  143 

again  to  receive  misrepresentations  and  slander, 
for  acts  of  mercy  and  love.  Xo  more  tears,  be- 
cause God  lias  promised  to  wipe  them  all  away. 
O,  my  Father  of  all  grace,  we  give  thee  all  the 
praise,  and  honors,  and  glory,  in  the  name  of 
Him  who  died  and  liveth  again.  Hallelujah ! 
Glory!  ! 

"Oh,  when  shall  my  spirit  take  flight, 
And  reach  those  calm  regions  above ; 

View  all  the  redeemed  in  white, 
And  dwell  in  the  bosom  of  Love  ? 

Then,  there  I  shall  see  His  sweet  face, 
Once  all  covered  over  with  blood ; 

Who  hung  on  the  cross,  in  my  stead, 
And  died  to  redeem  me  to  God. 

One  cherished  sin  within  the  heart, 

One  evil  thought  received, 
The  joy  of  Christ  must  needs  depart ; 

His  Holy  Spirit  grieved. 

O  Holy  Spirit,  have  Thy  way, 

The  power  Thou  must  supplv; 
My  heart  and  will,  I  yield  to  Thee, 
God,   to  glorify." 


144  STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY 

The  spirit  of  the  word  of  God  and  especially 
in  the  gospels  of  Matthew,  Mark,  Luke  and 
John,  would  have  us  understand  that  we  cannot 
be  too  pure  in  our  lives  to  meet  the  command- 
ments of  God  or  the  government  of  Heaven. 
With  a  deep  realization  of  this  fact,  and  al>". 
that  the  safety,  strength  and  purity  of  a  nation. 
especially  a  representative  democracy  or  repub- 
lican form  of  government  as  ours  is,  lies  in  the 
virtuous,  pure  and  Christ-like  home;  therefore, 
as  a  faithful  co-laborer  with  Jesus,  we  desire  to 
add  yet  one  more  stepping  stone  for  God's  glory 
by  way  of  the  following  hint. 


A  National  (Eursr. 


"Ye  are  cursed  with  a  curse;  for  ye  have 
robbed  me,  even  this  whole  nation."  Mai.  3  :9. 

Relying  on  the  sacred  scriptures,  God's  own 
word,  the  Holy  Bible,  we  learn  that  individuals 
are  called,  qualified  and  placed  upon  high  pin- 
nacles of  fame  and  power  at  God's  will.  And 
as  long  as  they  are  willing  tools  in  his  hands, 
not  committing  grievous  sins  in  His  sight,  they 
advance,  flourish,  and  conquer.  But  when  they 
forsake  the  Lord  God,  and  take  the  reins  of 
government  into  their  own  hands,  it  becomes  a 
sad,  sad  day  to  them.  We  will  instance  just  one 
case  out  of  scores ;  that  of  King  Saul.  You 
remember  God  called,  then  anointed,  then 
touched  him,  and  he  became  another  man.  But 
when  Saul  became  a  spiritualist,  and  Saul  un- 
dertook to  run  things,  forsaking  God,  and  in- 
quiring of  witches  and  other  devilish  spirits, 
how  soon  he  passed  away  like  Judas  Iscariot 


146  STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY 

and  went  to  his  own  class  in  the  spirit  world  to 
influence  others  on  earth  to  like  act-. 

As  with  individuals,  so  with  nations.  God 
can  handle  a  nation  of  two  hundred  million-  <>f 
people  just  as  easily  as  one  person.  When  we 
glance  at  political  history,  or  especially  at  I>il»- 
lical  history,  we  find  that  God  rears  up  and 
pulls  down  empires  and  kingdoms  at  His  will. 
But  we  wish  to  confine  our  thought  at  this  time 
to  the  United  States  of  America,  our  beloved 
country  upon  whose  shrine  we  have  placed  our 
life,  our  home  and  our  sacred  honor.  It  is 
through  this  love  of  country  and  loyalty  to  God, 
that  calls  forth  these  few  suggestions  for  nation- 
al and  home  purity.  This  nation  was  cursed  for 
a  long  period  of  years  by  slavery.  Israel's  (i<"l 
was  grieved  by  having  His  laws  broken  and  dis- 
regarded, by  trafficking  in  those  human  beings 
whom  He  created  for  His  own  glory. 

Passing  over  all  the  lecherous,  demoniacal 
acts,  the  severing  of  family  ties,  etc.,  there  came 
a  time  when  God  would  endure  it  no  longer.  As 
in  the  case  of  His  "peculiar  people,"  the  Israel- 
ites in  bondage,  he  looked  down  upon  the  ne- 
groes of  the  south,  baptizing  this  whole  nation 
in  blood  ;  besides  the  loss  of  almost  countless  mil- 


STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY  147 

lions  of  dollars  in  money  and  property,  and 
sadder  still,  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific 
and  from  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  to  our  northern 
limits,  we  find  "Rachel  weeping  for  her  chil- 
dren and  would  not  be  comforted,  because  they 
were  not."  All  this,  because,  as  Saul  said 
I  \\licii  it  was  too  late),  "I  (we)  have  sinned." 
Yes,  we  paid  dearly  for  our  whistle.  But,  we 
praise  the  dear  Lord  for  wiping  slavery  out  of 
and  from  our  land,  for  we  stand  today,  in  the 
sight  of  the  world  and  in  the  sight  of  God,  a 
purer,  nobler  nation  by  that  baptism  of  blood. 
But  I  wish  to  put  on  record,  for  the  glory  of 
God,  this  one  fact,  viz.,  that  there  is  a  greater 
curse  hanging  over  this  nation  today  than  even 
slaverv  thought  of  being. 

And  that  curse  is  the  divorce  business.  Jesus 
in  the  Holy  Scriptures,  tells  us  in  very  plain 
language,  "What,  therefore,  God  hath  joined 
together,  let  not  man  put  asunder."  Matth. 
0  :6  ;  Mark  10  :9.  It  is  a  question  in  the  writer's 
mind  whether  all  marriages  are  of  God.  Many, 
we  think,  are  of  the  devil.  Those  marriages 
performed  by  authorized,  ordained  ministers  of 
the  gosnel  are  of  God ;  but  that  lustful  couple 
running  to  your  blasphemous,  sinful,  so-called 


148  STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY 

Justice,  either  appointed  or  elected  by  sinful 
men,  to  have  the  ceremony  performed,  is  of  the 
devil  from  beginning  to  end.  We  view  it  that 
they  are  living  in  adultery  under  human  per- 
mit. Hence  a  divorce  given  in  that  case,  would 
not  be  a  violation  of  God's  law,  from  the  fact 
that  He  never  joined  them.  But  the  very  grave 
point  which  we  wish  to  hint  at  is,  as  we  under- 
stand it,  the  Code  of  the  State  of  Iowa,  and 
most,  if  not  all  other  states  and  the  United 
States  code,  conflict  with,  or  transgress, 
or  go  across  God's  word  and  law. 
As  already  stated,  that  law  of  God,  quoted  by 
Jesus  Himself  lays  it  down  emphatically: 
"What,  therefore,  God  hath  joined  together,  let 
not  man  put  asunder."  But  puny  man  with  his 
sin-befogged  brain,  and  self-sufficiency,  replies 
to  the  words  of  Jesus:  Our  codes  hold  that 
marriage  is  only  a  civil  compact,  and  may  be 
dissolved  by  the  consent  of  either  party.  Thus 
tacitly  spitting  again  in  His  face,  and  holding 
up  a  premium  for  adultery. 

Homes  are  cursed  by  that  insidious  spawn  of 
Satan  still  lurking  in  our  nature.  Yea,  even  in 
some  who  profess  to  be  sanctified  in  other  re- 
spects. Strive  to  be  what  you  wish  vour  chil- 


STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY  149 

dren  to  be.  If  you  want  your  children  to  have 
noble  principles,  have  them  yourself.  If  your 
children  are  to  be  free  from  lust,  see  to  it  that 
you  yourself  commit  not  adultery  in  your  mar- 
riage relation  under  the  pretense  that  you  once 
had  a  piece  of  paper  called  license  and  had  a 
few  words  spoken  by  a  man  and  hence  you  can 
gratify  lust  with  impunity.  Beware !  "God  is 
not  mocked."  Lust  is  sin  wherever  found. 

Oh,  my  Gocl,  my  Father!  How  long,  how 
long  wilt  thou  suffer  this  cesspool  of  iniquity  to 
curse  this  fair  land  of  ours. 


of  Autljor'B  Ctfr. 


The  writer  was  born  in  London,  England. 
April  15,  1842.  I  was  the  youngest  of  fourteen 
children.  The  oldest,  my  sister  Mary  Ann,  and 
another  sister  are  the  only  survivors,  mother 
having  died  in  August,  1851.  Father  and  four 
of  us  children  came  to  the  United  States  the 
same  fall,  landing  in  Maquoketa,  Iowa,  in  De- 
cember. We  wintered  in  an  old  log  house  in 
the  timber,  on  the  banks  of  the  Maquoketa 
river.  The  writer  could  relate  many  wild 
scenes  and  strange  occurrences,  such  as  deer, 
wil$l  turkeys,  the  sugar  bush,  etc.,  but  that  i? 
not  the  object  at  all.  Souls  are  at  stake,  and 
the  King's  business  requires  haste,  because 
I  feel  like  one  from  the  grave  talking  to  un- 
saved and  unsanctified  souls  for  whom  Jesus 
spilt  His  blood,  that  they  may  (if  they  will) 
have  fitness  for  glory. 

During  the  spring  of  1852,  our  family  scat- 
tered over  the  countrv  to  work  for  a  livelihood. 


STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY  151 

This  brings  the  writer  to  a  very  sa.d,  trying 
scene.  I  went  to  a  farmer,  who  also  was  a  car- 
penter. He  was  to  use  me  as  one  of  his  own  chil- 
ilren  (which  he  did,  for  he  had  a  kind,  fatherly 
heart),  send  me  to  the  district  school  winters, 
Teach  me  the  carpenters  trade  and  when  I  was 
twenty-one  years  of  age  give  me  a  chest  of  tools, 
a  good  suit  of  clothes,  a  horse  and  one  hundred 
dollars  in  money.  But,  while  he  and  his  son 
('who  was  of  age)  had  hearts  of  flesh,  and  could 
pity  an  orphan  child  in  a  strange  land,  your 
humble  servant  is  grieved  to  say  that  if  ever 
there  was  such  a  thing  as  a  heart  of  stone  ("By 
their  fruits  ye  shall  know  them"),  it  was  cer- 
tainly hid  away  in  his  wife's  bosom.  When  the 
son  or  his  father  was  at  home,  I  was  safe  and 
had  what  might  be  called  peace. 

AVell  does  the  writer  remember  how  he  would 
H'o  alone,  on  the  wild  prairie  in  the  evenings, 
and  amid  wolves,  1  would  look  up  at  the  stars, 
contrasting  these  evenings  with  those  evening* 
on  the  other  side  of  the  rolling  Atlantic  ocean, 
\vhe*n  mother  would  teach  me  about  Jesus  and 
His  blessed  word.  None  of  that  now.  And 
while  thus  cogitating,  with  tears  trickling 
down  my  rosy,  tender  cheeks,  I  would  sing  over 


152  STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY 

and  over  again  that  one  hymn  so  dear  to  my 
young  heart : 

"Remember,  love,  who  gave  thee  this, 
It  was  a  mother's  gift 
A  gift  from  one,  so  pure  and  fair, 
She    dying   gave    thee    this." 

Yes,  my  dear  reader,  allow  me  to  say  a  \v«»rd 
about  that  Bible.  I  saved  my  pennies  before 
mother  died,  then  converted  them  into  silver, 
and  with  that  first  piece  of  silver  money  I  pur- 
chased my  first  Bible,  which  the  writer  still  has 
in  his  possession  and  has  requested  that  it 
should  be  placed  over  his  heart  when  this  poor, 
pain-tossed  and  afflicted  tenement  of  clay  is  ly- 
ing in  the  casket. 

While  staying  at  this  home,  I  attended  school 
one  winter  in  the  school  house  known  as  the 
Hinckley  school  house  on  the  prairie  about  five 
miles  south  from  Maquoketa.  Of  course  the 
children  had  to  take  their  dinner  with  them. 
Their  daughter,  who  was  well  clad,  was  allowed 
to  prepare  her  dinner  frpm  anything  which  the 
cupboard  contained.  While  the  orphan  child, 
being  poorly  clad  in  cottonwear  and  without 
underwear,  also  with  no  dinner,  would  go  to  the 


STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY  153 

same  school.  She  acting  the  part  of  a  spy  would 
watch  me,  and  if  any  of  the  boys  would  divide 
their  dinners  with  me,  she  reported  the  fact  to 
her  mother,  and  the  outcome  was  a  cruel  thrash- 
ing for  the  friendless,  motherless  boy.  But  the 
daughter  lived  only  a  few  years  from  that  time, 
and  we  understand  her  mother  has  also  passed 
into  the  beyond,  to  await  that  day  when  we 
shall  all  stand  before  the  judgment  bar  of  God 
to  give  an  account  of  every  thought  and  every 
act,  whether  they  be  good  or  whether  they  be 
evil.  So  says  the  word  of  God. 

But  the  father,  one  day,  told  me  with  tears 
in  his  eyes  it  would  be  better  for  me  to  find 
another  home  if  I  could.  So  with  a  sad,  sad 
heart,  all  alone,  yet  not  alone,  because  mother's 
God  was  with  me,  I  walked  those  new  wild 
prairies  in  quest  of  shelter  and  food.  But  we 
must  proceed.  Then  several  years  of  struggle 
and  the  testing  of  my  faith  in  God  must  be 
passed  over,  for  space  is  limited. 

Th^  vears  of  1856-7  found  three  of  us  men 
folks  in  the  timber  northwest  from  Maquoketa, 
clearing  forty  acres  of  it  to  make  a  farm.  Here 
I  got  one,  and  part  of  another  winter's  school- 
ing in  a  log  house  with  slabs  sawn  from  the  out- 


154  STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY 

side  of  logs  to  sit  on.  After  this,  until  the  war 
of  the  rebellion  began,  the  writer  was  working 
by  the  month,  at  farming,  the  dear  Lord  bless- 
ing me  all  these  years  with  good  health.  Bless 
His  holy  name !  Here  I  worked  for  my  board, 
and  attended  the  district  school,  thereby  getting 
two  more  winter's  schooling. 

At  the  time  Ft.  Sumpter  was  fired  upon,  the 
writer  was  under  contract  to  work  for  Schuylcr 
S.  Eddy  of  Maquoketa,  a  well-to-do  man,  for 
eighty  acres  of  prairie  land  in  Blackhawk  coun- 
ty, Iowa,  by  the  month,  until  it  was  paid  for. 
I  had  worked  enough  to  pay  for  forty  acres,  and 
some  over,  when  the  spirit  of  patriotism  over- 
came my  farming  propensities.  This  man 
Eddy,  who  was  in  perfect  accord  with  Uncle 
Sam,  and  every  inch  a  man,  and  likewise  his 
son  having  married  my  youngest  sister,  con- 
sented to  give  me  a  deed  to  forty  acres,  and  the 
balance  of  my  pay  in  cash,  which  he  did.  And 
further,  he  promised  to  give  me  another  deed 
for  the  other  half  of  the  eighty  at  the  >;uiu- 
price  if  T  would  save  money  enough  while  in  the 
army  to  buy  it.  This  I  did,  sending  money 
home  each  pay  day  until  it  was  paid  for.  Ble-s 
God  I  was  now  owner  of  eighty  acres  of  as  fine 


STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY  155 

prairie  land  as  a  person  would  need  to  look  at. 

August,  1862,  came,  and  along  with  it  perfect 
health  and  strength.  Drums  were  beating, 
fifes  were  playing,  flags  were  flying  and  recruit- 
ing officers  on  the  wing.  Squads  were  gath- 
ered and  companies  forming  for  the  Twenty- 
sixth  Iowa  Volunteer  Infantry.  But,  what 
did  it  all  mean  ?  To  some  it  meant  an  excur- 
sion, a  holiday ;  to  some  it  meant  bounty.  But 
to  your  humble  servant  it  meant  the  march,  the 
camp  life,  the  sleepless  nights  on  guard  in 
drenching,  chilling  rains.  Yes,  it  meant  the 
bloody  battle  field,  the  hospital,  the  fatherless 
home,  the  crushed  widow's  heart  with  children 
to  provide  for.  Aye,  even  more  than  this,  it  was 
to  the  writer  of  this  book,  although  but  young 
in  years  at  that  time,  it.  was  God,  home  and 
native  (though  in  my  case  my  beloved  adopted) 
land. 

I  enlisted  under  no  excitement  but  reasoned 
for  two  weeks  on  this  line:  Men  with  fam- 
ilies are  enlisting  and  here  am  I  in  perfect 
health,  single,  and,  as  it  were,  without  a  home. 
But  I  expect  some  day  to  have  one.  Then  I 
shall  expect  Uncle  Sam  to  defend  and  protect 
it.  It  is  true  I  am  an  alien  and  a  minor ;  they 


156  STEPPING   STONES  TO   GLORY 

cannot  draft  me,  but  is  not  this  my  adopted 
country?  Yes,  it  is,  and  by  the  help  of  that 
God  who  has  cared  for  me  all  these  years,  and 
who  has  promised,  "I  will  guide  thee  with  my 
eye,  and  cover  thee  with  my  feathers,"  I  will 
lay  my  life  upon  her  shrine.  And  in  that  spirit 
the  writer  enlisted  for  three  years  or  during  the 
war,  under  the  glorious  Star  Spangled  Banner, 
at  Clinton,  Iowa,  and  mustered  into  the  United 
States  service  at  Lyons.  Our  regiment  was 
joined  to  the  Fifteenth  Army  Corps  of  the  Ten- 
nessee. 

The  writer  was  in  several  engagements,  but 
the  most  destructive  were  Arkansas  Post,  Jan- 
uary llth,  and  Vicksburg  during  the  assault 
and  siege  from  May  19th  to  July  4th,  18fi3.  Ar 
the  former  place  mentioned,  the  loss  of  life  in 
our  regiment  alone  was  fearful.  If  memory 
serves  me  rightly,  our  regiment  lost  one  hun- 
dred and  forty-five  men  in  one  single  charge. 
Two  Missouri  regiments  charged  the  enemy's 
breast  works  but  were  repulsed.  The  fire  was 
so  terrific  that  they  had  to  lie  upon  their  face-. 
The  Twenty-sixth  Regiment  was  then  taken  out 
of  our  brigade  and  ordered  to  charge 
the  same  breastworks.  We  started  on 


STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY  157 

the  double  quick,  jumped  over  the  two 
Missouri  regiments,  and  when  within 
forty  steps  of  the  works,  the  rebels,  with 
each  gun  loaded  with  one  minie  ball 
and  two  buck  shot,  rose  up  from  behind 
their  works  and  poured  into  our  ranks 
such  a  withering  rain  of  death  as  to  bring  forth 
the  command  "down"  and  our  regiment  fell  at 
full  length  upon  the  ground.  The  enemy  then 
opened  upon  us  their  cannon,  being  so  close  to 
them  that  we  could  look  down  their  awful  in- 
exorable throats. 

When  the  order  came  for  our  regiment  to 
fall,  the  writer  did  not  hear  it  among  the  ter- 
rible roar  and  carnage — for  I  think  words  can- 
not, or  at  least  I  have  not  the  command  of  them 
sufficient  to,  describe  it,  or  else  I  must  have 
been  stupefied  by  the  concussion  and  exploding 
of  the  shells,  etc. — anyway,  the  writer  was  the 
only  living  human  being  upon  his  feet  at  this 
particular  point  between  the  tAvo  contending 
forces.  And  for  a  second  the  firing  slackened, 
while  both  rebels  and  Yankees  cheered  your 
humble  servant. 

We  must  not  go  much  into  detail,  for  if  we 
should,  things  too  horrible  might  be  related  for 


158  STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY 

nervous  women  to  even  read;  neither  have  we 
the  space.  But  there  is  a  lesson  in  all  this: 
God's  word  says,  "The  bloody  and  deceitful 
man  shall  not  live  out  half  his  days."  This  is 
a  description  of  a  wicked  person.  In  our  com- 
pany was  a  man  about  twenty-two  years  old,  I 
should  think — a  little  giant  physically,  and  who 
swore  by  note,  as  the  boys  used  to  say.  He  was 
repeatedly  telling  what  he  would  do  to  the 
Johnnies.  "Let  him  that  thinketh  he  stands, 
take  heed  lest  he  fall."  Please  allow  me  just 
here  to  cite  a  case  upon  this  battle  field  in  which 
two  portions  of  God's  word  were  literally  ful- 
filled. The  writer  and  this  wicked,  boastful 
fellow  were  almost  side  by  side  going  into  this 
charge — a  Christian  and  a  sinner  (for  be  it 
remembered  I  was  converted  to  God  some  three 
years  previous  to  this).  Before  he  had  emptied 
his  gun  once,  he  had  five  minie  balls  in  his 
body  (I  counted  them),  and  he  went  to  judg- 
ment in  that  deplorable  condition.  As  it  has 
already  been  quoted,  "the  wicked  shall  not  live 
out  half  his  days,"  so  it  proved  in  his  case.  O, 
my  dear  reader,  for  Jesus'  sake,  take  warning! 
The  same  word  tells  us  regarding  the  Chris- 
tian, "A  thousand  shall  fall  at  thy  side,  and 


STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY  159 

ten  thousand  at  thy  right  hand,  but  it  shall  not 
come  nigh  thee."  I  was  wounded,  to  be  sure, 
but  my  life  was  spared,  for  which  I  heartily 
praise  God.  These  texts  were  fulfilled  upon 
the  bloody,  gory,  battle  field.  But  it  is  not  to 
say  that  all  Christian  soldiers  will  be  spared  in 
that  way.  O  no.  The  lesson  that  God  would 
have  us  learn  by  the  latter  text  is  this :  A  mul- 
titude of  sinners  all  around  a  Christian  may 
reject  the  light  and  means  of  salvation,  and 
thereby  fall  into  hell,  though  his  going  there 
will  not  necessarily  keep  that  Christian  out  of 
Heaven.  But  we  must  hasten. 

Vicksburg  is  mentioned  in  history  as  the  Gi- 
bralter  of  the  United  States.  Your  humble 
servant  was  there  upon  two  occasions.  First, 
when  W.  T.  Sherman  was  defeated  at  Walnut 
Hills  in  the  rear  of  the  city,  by  way  of  the 
Yazoo  river,  where  we  lost  sixteen  hundred  men 
Sunday  and  Monday.  And  again  under  Grant 
when  he  captured  it  on  July  4,  1863.  The 
writer,  while  Grant  and  Pemberton  were  capit- 
ulating for  the  surrender  of  the  city  (the  white 
flags  flying  upon  the  rebels'  ramparts),  climbed 
over  into  their  breast  works,  picked  up  a  fine 
dirk  and  a  rebel's  haversack,  and  started  for  the 


160  STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY 

city  some  two  or  three  miles  further  inland,  tw... 
powerful  rebels  accompanying  me,  one  on  either 
side.  l^ot  knowing  what  fear  was.  we  climbed 
down  those  miniature  mountains,  hanging  »>ii 
to  the  cane  as  we  went  through  the  brakes,  chat- 
ting as  we  went,  when  lo!  at  the  bottom  <>f 
those  hills,  alone  with  those  big  fellows,  my 
dangerous  situation  came  upon  me  in  an  in- 
stant. Without  the  movement  of  a  muscle  to 
indicate  fear  (my  nerves  at  that  time  were  like 
steel),  I  grasped  my  dirk,  calmly  deciding  to 
sell  my  life  as  dearly  as  possible.  But,  bless 
God,  it  was  as  it  is  always  promised  to  be.  The 
lions  were  chained. 

We  walked  along  and  soon  came  upon  a  rebel 
camp  of  some  fifteen  thousand.  Then  T 
breathed  freely.  My  escorts  directed  me  to  the 
city  which  I  found  in  a  short  time.  Oh,  how 
strange!  I  now  stood  in  Vicksburg.  Was  it 
true  ?  Could  I  believe  my  own  eyes  ?  The  only 
blue  coat  among  the  greys  ?  Yes,  there,  across 
the  ''Father  of  Waters"  were  the  Yankees  at 
Millican's  Bend  where  I  used  to  be  companied 
in  camp,  and  this  side  of  that  is  the  canal  which 
I  helped  to  dig.  Well,  we  strolled  about  the 
city,  saw  the  rebel's  water  batteries — old  whist  1- 


STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY  161 

in<i'  Dick  was  among  them — and  got  shaved  by 
a  negro,  paying  forty  cents.  I  would  not  have 
dared  to  let  a  rebel  shave  me  at  that  time.  The 
razor  might  have  slipped  and  cut  my  jugular 
vein ;  accidents  are  liable  to  happen  in  the  best 
of  families,  and  even  in  barber  shops. 

Groups  of  citizens  in  consternation  were  look- 
ing for  our  army  coming  to  occupy  the  city ; 
and  one  person  greatly  agitated,  asked  what 
would  they  do  with  them  ?  I  replied,  if  you 
do  what  is  right,  and  have  a  civil  tongue  in 
your  mouth,  all  would  be  well.  This  seemed  to 
give  him  ease  of  mind.  I  then  made  a  bee  line 
for  our  camp.  And  when  about  one  mile  out 
of  the  city,  off  to  my  left,  I  saw  what  I  sup- 
pose 1  to  be  General  Grant  and  body  guard  in 
full  uniform,  accompanied  by  a  part  of  our 
arniy,  headed  for  Yicksburg.  Thus  in  a  very 
remarkable  manner  the  writer  had  the  honor  of 
wearing  the  first  blue  coat  into  Vicksburg  after 
it  surrendered,  by  at  least  one  hour.  Hurrah ! 
Three  cheers  for  Lincoln !  I  reached  our  camp 
in  safety.  Praise  the  Lord !  And,  while  my 
readers  are  with  me  there,  we  will  relate  to  you 
a  joke  on  either  General  -  —  or  the  bees. 


162  STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY 

In  April,  previous  to  the  capture  of  Yick- 
burg,  our  regiment  was  helping  to  capture 
Colonel  Ferguson  and  his  force  in  the  state  of 
Mississippi.  We  landed  at  Greenville,  chased 
him  until  our  rations  gave  out,  so  had  to  return. 
On  the  march  we  encamped  near  a  plantation, 
upon  which  was  a  fine  residence.  It  was  a 
clear,  hot  day,  so  that  bees  were  healthy  and 
active.  The  boys  had  some  five  or  six  hives 
upset,  and  assuming  the  part  of  Samson  was 
going  for  the  honey.  The  writer  had  an  im- 
provised rope  around  one  hive,  and  a  woman's 
apron  which  he  found  on  the  fence,  wound 
about  his  face  and  head  ready  to  haul  the  thing 
to  the  creek  and  have  a  bonanza,  when  an  offi- 
cer by  my  side  sang  out,  Halt !  to  your  quarters. 
Of  course  we  obeyed,  but  thoughts  of  honey 
were  on  my  brain. 

Just  then,  not  far  away,  a  comrade  needed 
help.  His  head  and  face  also  were  covered  up, 
and  so  covered  with  bees  that  he  could  not  see 
out,  and  at  the  same  time  had  a  barrel  head  on 
his  arm  piled  up  with  honey,  comb,  and  bees. 
We  took  in  the  situation  at  a  glance.  So  we 
chirped  out,  Halloo,  comrade,  give  me  half  of 
that  honey  if  I  capture  those  bees  and  sign  your 


STEPPING   STONES  TO   GLORY  163 

release?  Yes,  came  the  answer.  So  leading 
him  to  the  creek,  I  bathed  the  bees  very  gently, 
and  in  a  few  seconds  the  funeral  services  were 
f-nded,  honey  divided  and  we  were  on  our  wav 
to  camp  rejoicing. 

But  how  about  the  general  ?  Well,  I  will 
toll  you.  Just  before  we  reached  the  creek,  the 
general,  upon  his  prancing  steed,  attended  by 
his  body  guard,  also  upon  horse  back,  were 
headed  for  the  residence.  I  knew  who  he  was, 
and  having  seen  him  inflict  a  cruel  blow  writh 
the  back  of  his  sword  upon  an  innocent  comrade, 
and  knowing  that  the  boys  had  not  as  much  love 
for  him  as  the  Scripture  calls  for,  we  thought 
this  was  a  favorable  time  for  fun.  So  upon 
meeting  the  distinguished  gentleman,  and  sa- 
luting him  at  a  halt  as  we  should  have  done,  the 
writer  was  so  interested  in  leading  his  bee-cov- 
ered prisoner  that  he  kept  the  road,  saying 
aloud,  Come  on !  come  on !  leading  him  right 
among  their  horses  to  whom,  strange  though  it 
may  appear,  the  bees  became  strongly  and  ef- 
fectively attached.  You  remember  Elijah  of 
old  led  fifty  men  into  camp,  but  by  the  looks  of 
the  bees  upon  the  man  and  honey  I  must  have 
been  leading  more  than  five  or  six  hundred ; 


164  STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY 

anyway,  the  bees  introduced  themselves  to  the 
general  and  his  escort,  whereupon  horses,  gen- 
eral, bees  and  all  left  us  very  impolitely,  as  fa-r 
as  they  could  go,  general  and  bees  vying  with 
each  other  as  to  horsemanship.  But  bless  me, 
when  I  get  among  the  old  army  scenes  I  scarce- 
ly can  put  the  brakes  on.  But  I  must,  for  a 
book  could  be  easily  written  upon  these  things 
alone. 

After  the  fall  of  Vicksburg  the  army  pursued 
Joe  Johnson  to  Jackson.-  Mississippi.  It 
was  during  this  awful  march,  for  it  so  proved 
to  hundreds  of  the  boys,  drinking  water  with 
green  scum  on  it,  etc.,  that  the  writer  was 
taken  down  with  typhoid  fever.  My  throat 
closed  up  so  that  they  could  not  administer  med- 
icine. I  was  deranged  for  two  weeks.  Our 
captain  detailed  my  brother  to  wait  on  me.  He 
bathed  me  every  hour  night  and  day  in  cold 
water.  The  fever  ran  its  course,  and  when  they 
moved  me  to  the  hospital  tent  (they  told  me 
afterwards)  my  flesh  pealed  off  on  the  barrel 
staves  upon  which  I  was  Iving  for  a  bedstead. 

And  now  comes  the  time  when  I  was  to  he 
buried  alive.  The  doctors  told  my  brother  T 
was  dead,  to  dig  a  hole,  put  my  blanket  around 


STEPPING    STONES   TO   GLORY  165 

me,  fill  it  up,  and  of  course,  on  Decoration  Day 
I  would  be  numbered  as  the  unknown.  But  God 
had  a  work  for  me  to  do  as  the  reader  will  see 
before  he  closes  this  book.  The  thought  came  into. 
my  brother's  mind  and  heart  so  strongly  to 
send  me  home  that  he  ran  the  risk  of  disobey- 
ing orders  as  to  burying  me.  He  left  me  in  the 
tent,  walked  to  the  brigade  and  then  to  the  di- 
vision headquarters  in  quest  of  a  metallic  coffin, 
but  he  failed.  So,  with  disappointment  and 
sadness  at  the  thought  of  leaving  me  there  in 
that  condition,  he  returned  to  take  a  farewell 
look  upon  his  brother,  the  youngest  in  our  f  am- 
ily,  when,  to  his  astonishment  and  .joy,  he  dis- 
covered life.  Oh,  glory  to  God!  for  His  mercy 
cndureth  forever. 

As  soon  as  they  could  remove  me,  I  was  sent 
up  the  river  to  Memphis,  then  to  the  St.  Louis 
Hospital,  where  I  remained  in  my  room  for 
three  months.  One  day  the  chaplain  brought 
me  my  discharge,  paying  me  what  money  was 
coming  to  me,  and  ordered  the  nurse  to  bring 
my  army  clothing,  knapsack,  etc.,  but  I  was  too 
weak  to  carry  them,  so  left  all  in  the  hospital 
and  started  for  Iowa,  if  I  could  ever  reach  it. 
But  the  dear  Lord  was  with  me,  and  permitted 


166  STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY 

me  to  reach  my  sister's  home  at  Boon  Spring. 
Though  as  soon  as  the  excitement  subsided,  and 
the  reaction  from  the  strain  of  the  long  journey 
began,  once  more  I  was  under  the  doctor's  care, 
delirious  and  suffering  much.  But  God  was  as 
good  as  His  promise.  His  angel  was  encamped 
around  and  about  his  child,  and,  by  the  never- 
tiring  efforts  of  my  greatly  beloved  sister,  Mina 
Esther,  I  became  so  greatly  convalesced  as  to 
permit  of  my  attending  the  academy  in  Maqiio- 
keta.  I  made  my  home  with  Dr.  Harrison 
Holt,  taking  care  of  his  horse,  and  overseeing 
the  things  pertaining  to  the  house.  Here  the 
dear  Lord  again  showed  His  kind  presence 
with  me,  for  the  writer  learned  as  by  intuition, 
and  at  the  end  of  the  third  term  I  was  exam- 
ined, receiving  my  certificate,  and  taught  my 
first  district  day  school.  At  this  time  I  organ- 
ized a  writing  school  which,  if  we  remember 
correctly,  was,  held  three  evenings  each  week  for 
a  good  share  of  the  winter.  This  was  one  of 
the  most  pleasant  winters  of  my  life,  and,  T 
may  without  boasting  say  one  of  considerable 
profit  to  my  scholars. 

The  following  winter  I  taught  a  four  months' 


STKPPIXG   STONES   TO   GLORY  167 

school  eight  miles  north  from  Dewitt,  Clinton 
county,  receiving  forty  dollars  per  month. 

The  spring  following  I  purchased  three  yoke 
of  oxen  and  a  breaking  plow  and  my  brother 
(who  has  since  left  the  shores  of  time  and 
sense)  and  myself  drove  to  Black  Hawk  county 
and  broke  some  of  the  eighty  acres  of  the  land 
already  mentioned.  We  took  some  of  the  sod 
and  built  up  four  walls,  covering  it  with  some 
boards  and  our  wagon  box,  thus  dwelling  in  the 
first  house  owned  exclusively  by  myself.  In 
the  fall  I  sold  the  oxen  and  again  taught  a 
school  of  fifty-eight  scholars  for  four  months. 
In  the  spring  I  bought  a  span  of  powerful 
horses,  a  new  harness  and  wagon  and  again 
started  to  break  more  of  my  land,  breaking  sixty 
acres  more.  Yes,  by  the  way  there  was  eighty 
acres  of  splendid  land  adjoining  mine  on  the 
north.  This  I  purchased  on  time,  making  me 
now  a  grand  quarter  section.  I  then  built  a 
nice  little  frame  house,  planted  a  grove  of  trees, 
etc.,  and  in  a  word  had  a  good  home. 

But,  I  was  alone.  This,  God  says  in  his  word, 
"is  not  good."  And  I  believed  His  word.  So, 
kneeling  humbly  before  Him  in  that  house, 
"With  prayer  and  supplication,  let  your  re- 


168  STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLOKY 

quests  be  made  known  unto  God,"  your  humble 
servant  asked  him  these  identical  words:  O 
God,  please  grant  unto  me  a  congenial  compan- 
ion, in  Jesus'  name.  At  that  time  I  was  not 
acquainted  with  any  young  lady  within  a  hun- 
dred miles,  any  more  than  by  name,  etc.,  and 
had  not  even  heard  there  was  such  a  person  as 
the  one  who  is  now  my  wife.  When,  within 
a  few  days,  a  neighbor  and  his  wife  who  \veiv 
living  in  my  house,  brought  a  Miss  Bell  honv 
with  them  to  visit  for  one  or  two  days.  A 
strange  attachment  was  formed  for  each  other 
wrhich  resulted  in  our  marriage  in  April,  1*7  !. 
About  this  time  the  writer  began  to  depart 
from  the  word  of  God  materially.  He  says,  "If 
riches  increase,  set  not  thine  heart  upon  them." 
This  forbidden  thing  I  did,  for  my  whole  heart 
seemed  to  be  after  home,  lands,  cattle,  etc.,  at 
the  expense  of  my  soul.  It  is  true,  we  had  fam- 
ily worship  when  it  was  not  too  inconvenient, 
but  church,  prayer  meetings,  Sunday  schools 
and  charity  free  will  offerings  were  almost  out 
of  the  question.  So  again  the  dear  Lord  in  love 
made  His  word  good.  If  we  persist  in  doing 
these  things,  "I  wrill  put  my  hook  in  your  nose, 
and  bring  leanness  to  your  soul."  This  we  -aw 


STEPPING   STONES  TO   GLORY  169 

afterwards,  and  as  the  reader  will  also  see  if 
you  are  attentive.  We  then  got  into  debt, 
though  not  so  much  but  that  we  might  have 
gotten  out,  if  another  portion  of  God's  word  had 
not  been  violated.  "Owe  no  man  anything," 
with  the  exception  of  one  thing,  that  is  love. 
He  likewise  tells  us  that,  "If  you  go  surety  for 
another,  you  shall  smart  for  it."  O,  how  true. 
It  is  the  last  straw  upon  the  camel's  back  that 
breaks  it.  I  signed  a  large  note  for  a  person, 
telling  him  at  the  time  of  so  doing,  I  could  not 
possibly  pay  it  if  he  did  not,  and  save  our 
home.  Nevertheless  the  blow  came.  We  had  to 
sell  our  home,  saving  only  eight  hundred  dol- 
lars out  of  four  thousand.  For  a  time  my  heart 
was  crushed,  and  like  David  of  old  "my  head 
became  a  fountain  of  tears." 

I  took  my  family  (for  by  this  time  we  had 
two  little  boys)  and  moved  to  Hancock  county, 
ten  miles  southeast  of  Britt.  I  bought  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty  acres  of  improved  land.  Then 
the  same  old  mania  for  cattle,  barns,  .windmills, 
etc.,  came  back.  I  was  getting  them  when  God 
in  His  great  love,  laid  me  on  my  sick  bed  all 
winter  under  the  most  severe  and  trying  circum- 
stances. It  was  one  of  the  most  terrible  win- 


170  STEPPING   STONES  TO   GLORY 

ters  known  to  the  people  of  that  northern  coun- 
iry,  and  we  might  say  over  the  most  of  the 
United  States.  The  winter  of  1886-7.  In  some 
cases  men  had  to  tie  ropes  around  their  bodies 
and  the  other  end  to  the  barn  or  house  while 
doing  chores  to  keep  from  being  lost  in  the 
blizzards.  One  was  frozen  to  death  while  stand- 
ing behind  a  hay  stack.  A  school  teacher  leav- 
ing the  scholars  in  the  school  house,  started  for 
her  boarding  house ;  she  passed  it  in  the  blind- 
ing snow  and  was  found  a  few  days  from  that 
time  more  than  a  mile  from  the  house  frozen 
to  death  upon  the  prairie.  A  farmer  near  the 
school  house  hitched  up  his  team,  took  the  schol- 
ars some  food  and  covering,  telling  them  to 
stay  till  called  for.  Thev  were  in  that  school 
house  that  night  and  part  of  the  next  day. 

Getting  hired  help  was  out  of  the  question. 
It  was  now  root  hog  or  die.  At  this  time  we 
had  many  cattle,  horses  and  hogs  to  care  for, 
and  to  make  it  worse  the  water  in  both  wells 
gave  out,  but  as  fortune  always  smiles  on  the 
brave,  we  thought  of  an  old  well  that  was  cov- 
ered up.  That  was  uncovered,  the  water  hauled 
up  by  hand,  and  tlms  the  stock  was  saved.  All 
this  work  was  performed  by  my  dear  wife  and 


STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY  171 

our  little  son  Arthur  Bartlett.  Reader,  "God 
moves  in  a  very  mysterious  way  His  wonders 
to  perform,"  and  by  the  leadings  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  and  your  permission,  the  writer  will  now 
leave  the  sketch  of  his  life  at  this  juncture,  giv- 
ing his  Christian  experience,  and  afterwards, 
relate  the  wonderful  walks  and  talks  in  the 
King's  country,  and  the  dealings  with  the  chil- 
dren of  men  through  a  cleansed  and  obedient 
child. 

"Just  to  trust  and  yet  to  ask 

Guidance  still, 
Take  the  training  or  the  task 

As  he  will, 
Just  to  take  the  loss  or  gain 

As  He  sends  it ; 
Just  to  take  the  joy  or  pain 
As  He  lends  it."     Amen ! 


Being  highly  favored  of  God  by  having  a 
Christian  mother  who  taught  me  to  reverence 
and  obey  the  great  God  of  Heaven  from  my 
earliest  recollection,  I  was  always  a  strictly 
moral  boy.  Even  before  my  conversion,  I  do 
not  remember  of  ever  having  an  oath  or  any 
word  of  that  character  pass  my  lips.  Tobacco 
was  a  stranger  to  my  mouth  in  any  form.  I 
was  never  drunk,  and  the  lower  vices  I  was 
blameless  of.  But  dancing  and  playing  cards 
for  amusement  I  did  love.  The  devil  taught 
me  to  play  the  fiddle  without  any  other  instruct- 
or so  that  I  began  to  play  for  dances.  But  my 
chief  delight  was  in  the  woods  with  my  pet  rifle 
on  my  arm.  I  became  a  dead  shot,  people  testing 
me  in  many  ways,  to  the  contrary  notwithstand- 
ing. Though  as  dearly  as  I  liked  to  hunt,  I 
never  was  guilty  of  even  the  desire  of  desecrat- 
ing the  Lord's  Day  until  one  Sunday  in  May, 
1859.  I  was  then  living  five  miles  north  of 


STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY  173 

Maquoketa,  Iowa,  in  the  timber.  The  school 
houses  were  mostly  log  buildings  of  one  room, 
but  about  two  miles  from  us  was  a  frame  build- 
ing where  revival  meetings  were  being  held  by 
a  Mr.  James  Anderson,  a  Campbellite  or  Chris- 
tian preacher.  He  was  a  cooper  by  trade  and 
made  barrels  in  that  neighborhood. 

On  this  special  Sunday  the  folks  had  just 
gone  to  the  morning  service,  when  Satan  put  the 
thought  into  my  head  to  go  hunting — a  thing 
that  I  had  never  done.  I  got  my  bullet  molds 
and  lead,  had  made  several  bullets,  when  lo! 
an  intense  desire  came  over  me  in  a  flash  to  go 
to  that  meeting.  The  hunting  paraphernalia 
scattered,  the  washing  of  my  face  and  the 
changing  of  my  clothes  seemed  the  work  of  only 
a  few  minutes,  and  T  was  on  the  run  (and  I 
could  run).  Perhaps  the  dear  Lord  held  the 
services  back  a  little  for  me,  anyway  I  was  in 
time  to  get  enough  of  the  sermon  to  interest  me. 
T  went  home  thinking.  Evening  services  began. 
The  house  was  full.  The  writer  was  standing 
in  the  devil's  section,  back  by  the  door  among 
the  wood  choppers,  etc.  The  man  of  God  grew 
earnest,  then  loud  and  somewhat  eloquent ;  elo- 
quent because  sincere  and  in  earnest  in  the  re- 


174  STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY 

demption  work  of  lost  souls.  The  truth  poured 
into  my  soul  something  like  water  running 
down  a  rat  hole.  The  sermon  was  ended.  The 
altar  call  was  given. 

One-  of  the  tallest  sinners  in  the  room  not 
knowing  of  course  what  was  going  on  in  my 
heart,  with  a  laugh,  gave  me  a  push  toward  the 
altar.  And  I  praise  God  He  kept  me  going  to 
it.  I  knelt.  I  surrendered,  and,  glory  to  God, 
He  has  kept  me  going  ever  since.  Glory !  Glory  ! 
But  bless  His  holy  name  the  end  had  not  come 
yet. 

During  that  week  my  father,  and  then  my 
brother  (who  attended  me  and  was  ordered  to 
bury  me  in  the  army)  were  saved  and  two  weeks 
from  that  Sunday,  instead  of  moulding  bullets 
and  hunting,  the  writer,  his  father,  brother  and 
others  were  baptised  into  Jesus  Christ  by  im- 
mersion in  the  Maquoketa  river.  All  glory  to 
Jesus ! 

Then  the  drum  and  fiddle  were  sold,  and 
cards  an'd  dancing  became  a  thing  of  the  pa^t. 
But,  dear  reader,  it  is  with  shameful  face  I 
relate  to  you  that,  after  all  God  had  done  for 
my  soul,  I  had  an  up  and  down  experience  and 
in  fact  I  had  backslidden  in  heart  and  also  in 


STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLOKY  175 

my  life.  I  passed  as  the  average  church  mem- 
ber, but  God  knew,  and  I  knew  that  my  heart 
was  not  right.  Once  and  only  once  did  the  devil 
get  me  to  go  to  a  dance,  and  twice  and  only 
twice  he  induced  me  through  fashionable  so- 
ciety to  play  cards.  Oh,  young  converts  I  warn 
you  in  Jesus'  name,  look  out  for  the  devil  as 
an  angel  of  light  in  polished  society.  Let  me, 
for  the  glory  of  my  dear  Master,  give  you  an 
example. 

The  writer  was  at  a  gathering  of  the  upper 
tens.  There  was  that  high  school  professor,  that 
lawyer,  those  two  doctors,  that  Congregational 
deacon,  their  wives,  some  belles  of  the  city,  etc. 
To  be  sure  it  was  at  a  private  home  and  of 
course  it  being  a  very  select  party,  nothing  in 
the  shape  of  sin  would  be  tolerated.  And  you 
know,  there  was  the  deacon.  But  my  dear  read- 
er, if  ever  I  felt  hell  in  mv  bosom,  it  was  while 
I  sat  at  that  card  table  with  one  of  the  most 
refined  and  handsome  young  ladies  in  the  city 
as  my  partner.  I  shuffled  and  dealt  out  the 
devil's  call  birds  (car^ds),  but  God  forgave  me 
for  Christ's  sake,  and  I  fully  believe  that  my 
sonship  was  again  restored.  Yet  I  had  very 
little  power  with  God  in  prayer.  I  could  not 


176  STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY 

say  that  I  knew  of  more  than  two  prayers  being 
answered  literally  until  the  Holy  Spirit  came 
in  His  fullness,  as  will  be  seen  further  on.  Xev- 
ertheless,  I  could  sing  with  the  poet: 


"My  (actual)  sins  are  under  the 

My  past  is  under  the  blood; 

All  glory  to  Jesus,  who  died, 

My  will  (in  part)  is  the  will  of  the  Lord." 

<kOh  hallelujah,  hallelujah, 

I  am  so  glad  to  tell, 
Oh  hallelujah,  hallelujah 

With  mv  soul  'tis  well." 


Beloved  reader,  you  have  just  been  reading; 
a  brief  account  of  the  dealings  of  God  upon  a 
sinful  human  heart.  How  He  for  Jesus'  sake 
pardoned  your  unworthy  servant.  But  as  was 
seen  in  another  part  of  this  book,  He  had  a 
wcrct  which  he  was  anxious  to  olivulge  to  me. 
This  secret  (He  says)  He  hides  from  the  wise 
and  prudent  (those  all  self-sufficient  ones),  and 
reveals  it  unto  babes  (regenerated  persons).  We 
are  now  one  of  those  babies,  hence  a  candidate 
for  the  secret.  You  know  Jesus,  the  Good  Shep- 
lurd,  always  carries  the  young,  the  tender  and 
feeble  lambs  in  His  bosom ;  so  it  proved  in  my 
case. 

At  this  time,  December,  1886,  as  already 
mentioned,  the  writer  had  not  been  privileged 
to  attend  a  holiness  camp  meeting,  had  not  read 
any  holiness  literature,  neither  had  he  heard  a 
holiness  sermon.  O,  my  Father,  as  I  have  so 
many  times  asked  in  prayer  for  you  to  forgive 


178  STEPPING   STONES  TO   GLORY 

the  preachers  for  keeping  back  part  of  the  price, 
so  I  pray  at  this  time.  But  blessed  be  the  dear 
Lord,  in  the  absence  of  all  these  things,  the- 
Holy  Spirit,  the  author  of  the  Bible  came  to 
my  help.  I  was  now  lying  upon  my  sick  bed 
and  to  human  appearances,  my  death  bed.  I 
had  not  partaken  food  of  any  kind  (with  the 
exception  of  three  pints  of  hot  water  from 
the  kettle,  as  hot  as  I  could  drink  it  through  a 
straw,  and  a  swallow  or  two  of  skimmed  milk 
daily  for  stomach  trouble)  for  thirty-two  days 
and  nights.  Preachers  (our  supposed  spiritual 
advisers)  had  failed  to  prepare  me  for  the  se- 
cret which  God  had  in  reserve  for  many  year? 
before,  so  He  chose  His  way  of  making  me 
honest,  preparatory  to  the  reception,  leaving  the 
dilatory,  or  perhaps  rebellious  preachers,  to  ac- 
count for  Eze.  34.  (Please  read  the  whole  chap- 
ter.) Listen  to  what  God  says  to  them  in  verse 
two:  Son  prophesy  against  the  shepherds 
(preachers)  of  Israel,  prophesy,' and  say  unto 
them,  thus  saith  the  Lord  God  unto  the  shejv 
herds  (preachers)  :  Woe  be  to  the  shepherds 
(preachers)  that  do  feed  themselves.  Should 
not  the  preachers  feed  the  flocks  \ 


STEPPING   STONES   TO    GLORY  179 

But  now,  upon  my  supposed  death  bed,  the 
Holy  Spirit  is  doing  the  neglected  work  of  the 
preachers.  Verse  eleventh :  "Behold,  I,  even 
I,  will  both  search  out  my  sheep,  and  seek  them 
out."  While  I  was  in  this  weak  bodily  condi- 
tion, a  Miss  Kluckhone  of  Garner,  some  four- 
teen miles  distant,  a  stranger  to  us,  called  at 
our  home.  She  left  "The  Christian  Secret  of 
a  Happy  Life"  for  me  to  read  as  soon  as  I  was 
able.  The  writer  read  it  through  twice,  and 
was  reading  it  the  third  time  when  she  called 
for  it.  I  shall  never  cease  to  praise  God  for 
•directing  that  saint  to  our  home  with  that  soul 
food.  All  glory  to  Jesus !  "The  steps  of  a 
good  man  (or  woman)  are  ordered  of  the  Lord." 
So  were  hers.  Xow  my  soul  was  all  aglow  and 
hungry  for  something  more  (that  secret),  al- 
though I  was  in  the  dark.  The  seeming  disso- 
lution of  my  body  was  drawing  very  near. 
Things  were  going  wrong,  and  the  very  ele- 
ments appeared  to  belch  forth  their  fury  around 
and  against  us.  Galilee  was  raging,  but  Jesus 
was  in  the  boat,  asleep.  Though,  glory  to  God, 
He  was  soon  to  be  awakened  an'd  say,  "Peace 
be  still." 


180  STEPPING   STONES  TO   GLORY 

On  the  afternoon  of  January  fourteen,  Bro. 
Snyder,  our  pastor,  living  in  Britt,  whose  wife 
used  to  be  one  of  my  scholars,  drove  ten  miles 
on  bad  roads  and  in  bad  weather  to  administer 
to  me  the  sacrament,  and  perhaps  look  upon 
me  for  the  last  time  on  earth.  Doctors  had  given 
me  up,  my  wife  had  done  the  same,  but  God 
still  lived,  and  by  that  fact  I  also  lived.  This 
was  on  Friday.  Sunday,  the  sixteenth,  came, 
and  with  it  some  friends  from  a  distance.  To- 
ward noon  the  sky  darkened,  the  snow  began  to 
fall,  the  wrind  blew  harder,  and  by  dark  a  reg- 
ular northern  blizzard  was  upon  us.  But  this 
was  God's  order.  No  watchers  were  there  that 
night,  for  like  Xoah  of  oM,  "God  shut  us  in." 
About  half  past  seven  o'clock  the  writer  was  in 
a  chair  having  his  bed  changed.  One  of  our 
two  children  asked  me  to  explain  the  object  of 
the  Lord's  supper.  This  I  did  as  best  my  weak- 
ress  would  permit,  God  giving  me  a  watch  to 
illustrate  by.  We  then  knelt  at  our  chairs  to 
worship  God.  As  it  has  already  been  mentioned 
I  was  ignorant  of  the  modus  operandi  of  entire 
consecration;  but,  while  I  led  the  family  in 
prayer,  the  blessed  Holy  Spirit  taught  me  to 


STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY  181 

consecrate  as  intelligent! TT  as  I  could    at    this 
hour.     Bless  His  dear  name. 

We  have  just  stated  that  we  had  no  watchers. 
But  methinks  if  our  spiritual  eyes  could  have 
been  opened  just  at  this  tremendously  sub- 
lime hour  we  should  have  been  permitted  to 
behold  a  more  glorious  sight  than  Elijah's  ser- 
vant witnessed  when  he  saw  the  mountains 
filled  with  horses  and  chariots.  We  believe  that 
Jesus  Himself,  with  His  angelic  escort  filled 
that  little  room  which  has  ever  since  been  so 
sacred  to  our  memories.  And  while  thus  conse- 
crating, beholding  as  it  were,  my  shroud  and 
looking  from  my  coffin  to  the  judgment  bar  of 
Jehovah,  I  was  honest  with  God,  and  I  there 
took  my  final  leave  of  my  beloved  wife,  my  two 
little  boys,  my  house,  my  lands,  my  will,  my 
soul,  body,  everything,  even  the  world  itself. 
And  believe  me,  beloved  reader,  when  I  had  fin- 
ished piling  things  on  the  altar,  it  appeared  to 
the  writer  that  he  saw  his  own  body  about  forty 
rods  above  his  hea'd1  in  the  air.  And  when  his 
heart  and  soul  said,  "Thy  will  be  done,"  he 
arose  to  take  his  seat  in  the  chair.  Oh,  glory 
to  God !  I  remained  upon  my  feet  until  the 
healing  of  my  body  began,  the  cleansing  of  my 


182  STEPPING   STONES  TO   GLORY 

soul  had  been  completed,  and  I  was  baprized 
with  the  Holy  Ghost.  Oh  hallelujah!  halle- 
lujah! Glory  to  God! 

There  was  a  sensation  came  over  me  which, 
as  the  Scripture  says  "is  unspeakable  and  full 
of  glory."  Though  knowing  it  to  be  unspeak- 
able, yet  perhaps  we,  by  the  help  of  God  may 
convey  a  faint  idea  of  the  reality.  It  was  a 
kind  of  numbness  and  power  combined.  It  com- 
menced at  the  spot  where  my  dying  mother 
placed  her  hand  upon  my  head  (when  on  the 
other  side  of  the  Atlantic  ocean)  and  committed 
me  to  God.  It  then  proceeded  downward 
(slowly)  as  far  as  just  below  my  knees,  and 
stopped,  leaving  me  a  cripple,  walking  about 
the  room  with  the  aid  of  sticks  for  some  two 
weeks.  It  was  not  superficial.  It  was  from 
center  to  circumference.  Reader,  like  Paul, 
the  writer  got  something.  What  estimation 
would  you  think  we  would  place  upon  that 
preacher,  or  that  layman,  or  sinner  if  they 
should  try  to  argue  me  out  of  it  ?  I.  John 
2:27  tells,  me,  "that  same  anointing  abideth," 
and  further,  "you  need  not  that  any  man  should 
teach  you,"  concerning  that  experience.  A  man 
would  make  himself  ridiculous  trying  to  ex- 


STEPPING  STONES   TO   GLORY  183 

plain  away  that  operation  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
upon  me.  But  I  took  my  seat,  and  at  once  a 
deep  sense  of  sleep  came  over  me.  To  this  I 
was  a  stranger.  They  assisted  me  to  bed.  I 
scarcely  struck  the  pillow  when  I  was  asleep, 
and1  slept  as  sweetly  as  an  infant  upon  its 
mother's  breast  till  morning.  All  glory  to  Jesus  ! 
In  the  morning  I  partook  of  refreshments, 
and  so  continued  to  improve  in  health.  Then 
came  upon  me  an  intense  desire  to  do  Sunday 
school  work.  O,  if  only  I  could  be  out  in  that 
kind  of  work !  But  this  we  will  leave  for  the 
present.  Such  work  will  be  mentioned  when 
we  again  resume  our  sketch.  Before  we  close 
our  experience  as  to  obtaining  the  blessing, 
which  is  that  secret  mentioned  in  the  word  a.-i 
having  been  held  for  us  since  before  the  foun- 
dation of  this  world,  one  fact  is  wrorthy  of 
notice  as  it  may  encourage  some  poor,  sorrowing 
one,  and  in  other  ways  glorify  God.  Up  to  Feb- 
ruary 12,  1887,  my  overwrought,  heart-crushed 
wife  was  the  picture  of  sadness  (for 
be  it  known)  at  that  time  she  had 
not  received  her  Pentecost).  Although 
she  was  of  a  cheerful  temperament, 
and  full  of  song,  now  her  "Harp  was  tuneless 


184  STEPPING   STONES  TO   GLORY 

and  her  heart  was  sad."  But  on  the  morning 
of  February  13th  her  countenance  was  changed 
and  she  went  about  her  work  singing  as  usual. 
The  change  couM  not  go  unnoticed.  So  we 
remarked,  Why  do  you  sing  so?  But  we  re- 
ceived an  evasive  answer.  That  afternoon  wo 
asked  the  same  question.  So  seating  herself 
on  the  side  of  the  bed,  she  replied,  O,  you  are 
not  going  to  die.  Why  ?  And  after  awhile  she 
related  the  following:  Last  night  an  angel 
spoke  into  my  left  ear  these  words,  as  though  T 
could  feel  them.  His  (the  writer's)  sicknc>s  i.~ 
not  unto  death,  but  it  is  to  strengthen  him  spir- 
itually. How  very  much  like  our  Saviour'* 
woivls  in  St.  John  11:4.  "But  for  the  glory 
of  God,  that  the  Son  might  be  glorified  there- 
by." This,  then,  was  my  Pentecost.  And  the 
angel's  testimony  is  backed  by  the  word  of  God 
Himself  through  His  Son. 

Reader,  this  evidence  is  good  enough  for  me. 
The  writing  of  this  book  of  itself  is  for  that 
very  purpose.  Praise  ye  the  Lord.  Amen ! 


of 


SKKTCH    OF    MY    LIFE    CONCLUDED WALKS    AND 

TALKS   IX   THE   KING^S  COUNTRY. 

In  Matth.  10:27,  Jesus  says  to  me,  "What  I 
toll  you  in  darkness  (in  visions  upon  thy  bed), 
that  speak  ye  in  light ;  and  what  ye  hear  in  the 
ear,  that  speak  ye  upon  the  house  tops."  So 
acting-  upon  those  words  we  will  continue  my 
sketch.  On  another  page  mention  was-  made  of 
the  night  of  blessed  sleep  and  after  that  the  in- 
tense desire  to  do  Sunday  school  work.  This  de- 
sire being  born  of  God,  a  way  was  soon  opened 
up  for  its  realization,  and  somewhat  parallel 
with  Paul's  experience  in  answer  to  his  prayer 
to  be  permitted  to  go  to  Rome.  Two  seas  met.  A 
shipwreck.  Vipers  on  the  hand  of  the  writer, 
etc.  But,  "My  presence  shall  go  with  thee,"  was 
at  the  helmj. 

We  were  permitted  to  organize  a  Sabbath 
school  in  a  Catholic  township  where  family  \v  -r- 


186  STEPPING    STONES   TO   GLORY 

ship  was  to  any  extent,  if  not  wholly,  unknown, 
in  the  very  face  of  Satan. 

We  announced  a  gathering  of  the  people  at  a 
new  frame  school  house  at  ten  o'clock  next  Sun- 
day to  organize  a  Sunday  school.  Sunday  came, 
and  of  all  the  melancholy,  rainy  days  from 
morning  till  night,  that  equaled  the  worst. 
The  writer  put  the  saddle  on  the  horse,  and 
rode  over  the  country  in  the  rain  telling  the 
people  we  would  all  meet  at  the  school  house  at 
the  same  hour  the  following  Sabbath  for  the 
same  purpose. 

That  Sabbath  came,  and  it  was  an  exact  dup- 
licate of  the  one  before.  We  again  mounted 
our  horse  in  the  rain,  to  deliver  the  message  on 
our*  heart.  Sunday  came,  and  O,  glory  to  God  ! 
He  rewarded  our  faithfulness  by  .giving  us  a 
day  of  beauty,  effulgence  and  victory.  The 
house  was  full.  A  Sunday  school  was  organ- 
ized. An;l  O,  the  Scripture  and  heavenly  wis- 
dom the  dear  Lord  did  pour  into  my  poor  h?a  ! 
and  heart  while  working  ,in  that  school  I  never 
shall  forget.  But  we  must  refrain  from  derail, 
though  we  desire  ever  so  much,  on  acount  of 
jspace.  Suffice  it  to  say,  preaching  was  added 
to  the  school.  A.  U.  B.  church  was  soon  organ- 


STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY  187 

ized ;  every  family  then  living  in  and  around 
the  vicinity  was  represented,  and  in  some  cases 
whole  families  were  swept  into  it,  and  today 
that  church  stands  as  an  Ebenezer  for  fidelity 
to  God. 

We  exclaim  with  David  of  old,  "Let  every- 
thing that  hath  breath  praise  the  Lord."  How 
many,  many  times  the  Lord  has  made  His  word 
good  to  us  on  this 'line,  "He  that  honors  me, 
him  will  I  honor."  Right  here  let  me  say  to 
my  readers,  that  the  relating  of  the  dealings  of 
God  to  and  by  the  writer,  is  not  for  egotism  or 
self-aggrandizement,  but  purely  for  the  glory, 
of  God.  We  were  then  sent  as  a  delegate  to 
Garner  to  attend  the  Hancock  County  Sabbath 
School  Association.  Here  again  we  can  see  the 
hand  of  God.  We  had  to  drive  some  fourteen 
miles,  so  entered  the  church  near  the  close  of 
a  Bible  class  exercise.  We  were  at  that  time 
comparatively  a  stranger  there.  The  leader 
asked  the  class  for  an  apology  for  Judas.  N'ot 
gettfng  an  answer,  the  question  was  then  asked, 
is  there  any  one  in  the  convention  who  will  give 
an  apology  for  Judas  ?  Without  thinking  what 
I  was  doing,  my  hand  went  up  and  'all  eyes 
were  turned  on  me  in  an  instant.  Our  reason 


188  STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY 

backed  by  the  word  of  God  seemed  satisfactory. 
The  next  moment  the  president  stepped  down 
from  the  pulpit,  pressed  his  way  to  my  side, 
and  said  in  a  whisper,  What  is  your  name  \  Hav- 
ing ascertained  it,  he  went  to  his  seat.  The  pn •-- 
ident  appointed  a  committee  on  nomination, 
and  among  them,  your  humble  servant.  Four 
vice-presidents  wrere  to  be  nominated.  We  were 
chosen  as  one.  I  speak  thus  particularly  be- 
cause we  wish  the  reader  to  follow  and  see  the 
hand  of  God  working  in  and  through  it  all. 

Our  semi-annual  convention  was  next  held  in 
Oorwith,  some  twelve  miles  west  from  our  home 
across  those  bleak  prairies.  On  the  appointed 
day  it  was  snowing  so  we  concluded  not  to  go. 
When  \vay  in  the  afternoon  suddenly  there 
came  a  thought  accompanied  by  a  desire  to  at- 
tend the  convention.  Almost  a  stranger  in  the 
city,  cold,  without  supper,  what  should  I  do? 
I  saw  a  light  in  the  printing  office,  of  which  one 
of  the  vice-presidents  was  the  editor.  He  also 
preached.  We  went  there,  stated  our  object, 
and  he  hustled  for  a  leading  church  member, 
who  was  also  a  banker;  they  hurried  others  to 
the  expected  train,  bringing  delegates,  etc. 
Others  notified  the  citizens  and  still  others 


STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY  189 

heated  the  public  hall.  So  that  a  few  minutes 
after  the  appointed  hour  about  two  hundred 
persons  were  eager  for  the  exercises.  Brother 
Johnson  (the  editor)  called  the  convention  to 
order.  Sister  Brockway,  a  banker's  wife  in 
Garner,  being  secretary,  was  stationed  at  her 
table ;  when  the  editor's  voice  which  is  naturally 
good,  rang  out  through  the  hall,  Brother  Cod- 
ling, please  come  forward  and  take  charge  of 
the  convention.  Reader,  will  you  just  in  your 
mind  put  yourself  in  the  writer's  place  at  that 
supreme  moment  ?  A  stranger,  without  supper, 
after  a  cold  twelve-mile  drive  over  those 
prairies,  with  pants  tucked  into  the  tops  of  felt 
boots,  and  other  clothing  to  correspond  with 
the  boots,  never  up  to  this  time  had  I  conducted 
such  a  large  and  intelligent  audience.  And 
there  hid  away  among  the  people  in  the  center 
of  the  hall  was  John  in  his  uncouth  clothing  of 
camel's  hair. 

He  called  the  second  time  and  when  some  in 
the  audience  beckoned  me,  my  doom  was 
sealed.  The  convention  was  a  success.  God 
was  greatly  glorified.  The  next  day  the  writer 
plead  off,  but  God  seemed  to  say  "thou  art  the 
man."  So  He  kept  me  in  the  harness  to  its 


190  STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY 

close.  Beloved  reader,  will  you  kindly  bear  in 
your  mind  one  fact  ?  I  had  received  my  Pente- 
cost. So  God  continued  to  use  me  blessedly  for 
four  years,  before  I  knew  what  to  call  it.  Bless 
His  dear  holy  name  forever  and  ever! 

Well,  we  had  driven  about  one  or  two  mile- 
out  of  town  on  our  way  home  when  we  received 
our  first  anointing.  Please  note  there  is  only 
one,  the  anointing,  but  an  indefinite  number 
of  a  anointing.  The  anointing  abides;  a 
anointing  is  transient.  For  the  anointing 
see  I.  John  2 :27.  I  say  I  received  my  first 
anointing.  Yes,  I  have  done  my  whole  duty 
and  God  the  Holy  Spirit  came  down  my  soul 
to  greet  while  glory,  glory,  crowned  the  mercy 
seat.  I  was  so  full  of  praises  to  God  and  bless- 
ing Jesus  I  had  to  turn  my  horse  out  of  the 
road  to  let  the  teams  go  by  that  the  people 
might  not  think  me  a  candidate  for  the  lunatic 
asylum. 

Beloved  reader,  we  have  dwelt  at  some 
length  on  this  point  thinking  that  perhaps  some 
poor,  discouraged  soul  might  be  benefited  and 
God  glorified.  So  now  let  us  trace  this  back- 
ward as  God  reveals  Himself  to  me.  When 
Brother  Dow,  the  president,  asked  me  my  name, 


STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY  191 

he  then  had  consumption,  and  to  make  it  plain, 
it  would  read  something  like  this.  President 
Dow,  before  the  next  convention  I  will  call  you 
to  Paradise.  Xow  you  ask  that  man  his  name 
because  he  is  chosen  of  me  to  take  the  presi- 
dential chair.  Xominate  him  as  one  of  th-3 
committee,  then  I  will  see  that  he  is  elected  a 
vice-president.  I  have  a  work  for  him.  And 
sure  enough  it  was,  for  the  president  died  short- 
ly after  that,  so  the  reader  can  readily  under- 
stand the  rest.  We  were  blessedly  used  at  the 
regular  annual  convention  held  in  Britt,  in  the 
M.  E.  Church  and  in  many  other  ways.  We 
were  used  of  God  as  superintendent  of  two  Sun- 
day schools  at  the  same  time,  one  in  the  fore- 
noon and  the  other  in  the  afternoon. 

Please  let  me  mention  one  fact  that  ought  not 
to  be  overlooked.  Since  my  Pentecost,  financial 
difficulties  all  disappeared.  My  life  on  that 
line,  as  well  as  in  other  respects,  runs  parallel 
with  that  of  Job's.  My  "last  end  is  better  than 
my  first."  We  would  like  to  relate  how  the 
dear  Lord  threw  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres 
of  land  into  our  laps,  but  will  only  hint  at  it. 
In  twenty-four  months  the  writer  (after  his 
Pentecost)  bought  the  above-mentioned  land 


192  STEPPING   ?TONES   TO   GLORY 

adjoining  his  home,  broke  it  up,  cropped  it,  and 
God  permitted  him  to  pay  for  it,  and  in  addi- 
tion, cleared  sixteen  hundred  dollars.  And  all 
this  was  done  without  worry  and  our  nose  get- 
ting out  of  joint  two  or  three  times  per  week. 
Hallelujah !  Notwithstanding  that  I  was  now 
farming  three  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of 
land,  we  always  had  abundance  of  time  to  at- 
tend family  worship  at  least  twice  per  day,  be- 
sides attending  the  other  means  of  grace.  ^I<>-t 
of  the  work  was  done  by  myself  and  our  two 
small  boys.  Still  if  a  poor  family  was  in  a 
pinch  there  wras  time  to  lend  them  a  helping 
hand. 

A  Mr.  Anderson,  a  neighbor  on  our  south, 
was  called  to  mourn  the  loss  of  their  little  boy, 
Willie.  We  were  used  of  God  in  preaching  the 
funeral  sermon  and  superintended  the  burial 
service  which  were  greatly  owned  of  God  in 
talking  to  the  living,  as  the  house  and  both 
yards  were  crowded  with  people.  O,  my  Father, 
I  praise  Thee!  And  during  the  same  summer 
we  were  sent  for  by  another  neighbor  living 
west  from  our  home  to  preach  another  funeral 
sermon  under  very  sad  conditions.  The  little 
white  casket  containing  their  four-year-old  was 


STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY  193 

removed  to  the  school  house  a  few  rods  from 
their  residence  where  the  mother  was  lying 
upon  her  supposed  death  bed,  and  hence  was 
not  able  to  attend  the  funeral  of  her  child.  As 
is  my  custom  we  talked  to  the  living,  warning 
them  to  keep  out  of  hell  by  being  prepared  all 
the  time  to  meet  God  in  peace. 

About  1892,  the  writer  with  his  wife  and 
three  sons  removed  from  Hancock  county  to  a 
farm  of  forty  acres  one  mile  west  from  Nevada, 
Iowa.  Notwithstanding  that  we  own  nothing, 
having  consecrated  all  to  God,  and  receive  only 
as  He  sees  fit  to  give  back  to  us,  the  first  thing 
we  did  on  entering  our  new  home  was  to  dedi- 
cate it  back  to  Him  for  holy  purposes.  And 
truly  He  took  us  at  our  words  and  made  it  a 
bethel  to  many,  many,  souls.  All  glory  to  His 
name.  One  case  just  comes  to  my  mind.  A 
Mr.  llalstead  and  his  brother  from  Nebraska 
called  at  our  home  one  night  for  lodgings  and 
to  leave  their  team  in  the  barn.  Whenever  pos- 
sible we  never  turned'  anyone  away.  All  had 
retired  for  the  night  except  wife,  the  stranger 
and  myself.  We  saw  afterward  that  this  was 
of  God.  He  had  been  lecturing  in  Nebraska 
on  temperance.  He  had  been  called  to  preach, 


194          STEPPING  STONES  TO  GLORY 

and  was  a  Jonah  on  his  way  to  Joppa  to  "hide 
from  the  presence  of  the  Lord."  After  giving 
him  the  word  of  God,  wife  kneeled  at  the  divan 
and  your  servant  beside  his  rocking  chair,  ask- 
ing him  to  kneel  while  we  talked  to  Fathci  in 
his '  behalf.  But  with  firm  resolve  he  braced 
himself  in  his  chair  with  a  decided  no.  Xothing 
daunted,  the  writer  plead  and  reasoned  with 
him  to  no  purpose,  when  I  raised  my  hand  to 
Elijah's  God  for  help.  I  then  repeated  a  ques- 
tion in  another  form.  You  say  you  respect  us 
for  our  kindness,  hospitality,  etc  ?  Yes.  Then 
to  put  your  yes  in  tangible  form,  will  you  please 
kneel,  purely  for  respect  ?  O,  how  slowly,  and 
what  hard  work  it  was  for  that  strong  man  to 
get  upon  his  knees.  But,  be  it  remembered,  a 
little  while  before  he  did  so,  he  said,  "Mr.  Cod- 
ling, before  I  will  bow  before  God,  if  I  cannot 
get  out  of  this  house  any  other  way,  I  will 
(pointing  to  a  window)  jump  through  that 
window."  But  glory  to  God  Jonah  was  now  in 
the  whale's  belly,  and  not  only  so,  but  at  the 
foundations  of  the  mountains,  in  the  depths  of 
the  sea.,  soon  to  be  ejected  out  upon  the  dry 
land  of  bliss. 


STEPPING    STONES   TO   GLORY  195 

Wife  talked  to  Father,  then  the  writer  called 
upon  God  to  capture  this  Jonah,  and  long  be- 
fore we  had  ended  our  supplication,  groans, 
mingled  with  floods  of  tears,  such  as  could  be 
heard  through  the  whole  house  came  from  out 
of  the  whale's  belly,  promising  God  he  wouli 
preach,  etc.  Tobacco,  pipes  and  the  rest  of  the 
devil's  paraphernalia  went  into  the  stove.  The 
picnic  lasted  till  one  o'clock  in  the 
morning.  The  next  morning  his  brother, 
a  man  grown,  who  had  once  known  the 
good  way,  while  upon  his  knees  prom- 
ised us  he  would  become  a  good  Christian.  Two 
years  from  that  time,  Jonah,  while  driving 
from  Missouri  to  Xebraska,  drove  eighty 
miles  out  of  his  way  to  see  us.  His  face 
told  of  the  Christ  within.  He  said  his  brother 
was  the  strongest  pillar  in  a  certain  M.  E. 
( 'hurch.  Beloved  reader,  it  pays  to  get  our 
Pentecost,  and  then  improve  every  opportunity. 

Another  case  of  prevailing  prayer  and  con- 
quering faith.  A  Miss  Mertie  M.  Strattan 
(now  Mrs.  Ball)  of  Ames,  Iowa,  and  who,  for 
God's  glory  alone,  has  kindly  consented  that  her 
rame  may  be  used  in  this  connection  for  this 
article,  was  at  the  time  of  which  we  are  speak- 


196  STEPPING   STONES  TO   GLORY 

ing  about  sixteen  years  of  age  and  a  friend  of 
the  writer.  She  was  bedfast  with  Bright'*  dis- 
ease, and  one  side  of  her  person  was  paralyzed. 
She  was  given  up  by  doctors  and  medicine 
seemed  futile.  The  writer,  on  the  afternoon 
of  the  third  visit,  again  said  to  her,  Mertie,  y<m 
can  be  healed.  Previous  to  this  she  would 
smile  at  my  words.  But  as  we  talked,  she  ex- 
claimed, Bro.  Codling,  you  have  the  most  faith 
of  any  person  I  ever  saw.  Do  you  think  I  can 
be  healed  ?  Our  answer  was,  ~No  Mertie,  I  do 
not.  But  I  Jcno^w  you  can.  And  if  you  will 
follow  my  directions  you  will  be  healed  to- 
night. God  came  to  her  help  and  gave  her 
claiming  faith.  She  said  she  would.  Brother 
M.  L.  Marshall  was  then  holding  tabernacle 
meetings  in  the  other  part  of  Ames.  We  told 
Mertie  that  at  eight  o'clock  that  evening  we 
would  be  praying  for  her,  and  for  her  at  that 
hour  to  pray  for  and  believe  for  the  healing  of 
her  body.  The  writer  than  fasted  for  her  from 
that  hour  till  the  next  morning.  Eight  o'clock 
came  and  the  tabernacle  was  filled  with  people. 
Brother  Marshall  began  the  services  by  refer- 
ring to  her  pitiable  condition  not  knowing  what 
had  transpired  in  the  afternoon.  We  were  some- 


STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY  197 

what  of  a  stranger  to  the  audience,  but  Go' 
had  me  on  my  feet,  with  this  bold  and  appar- 
ently reckless  declaration  upon  my  heart  and 
tongue.  We  are  going  to  kneel  in  prayer  for 
the  healing  of  Mertie's  body.  And  she  is  going 
to  be  healed  this  night.  Will  those  who  know 
the  value  of  prayer  come  here  (to  the  front)  ? 
About  twelve  came  forward  from  the  front 
seats ;  others  from  the  rear  started  to  come  but 
we  told  them  we  had  enough.  Prayer  was  made, 
and  the  usual  services  proceeded,  but  the  writer 
remained  on  his  face  beside'  a  chair  for  some 
considerable  time  for  Mertie.  After  that 
prayer,  Mertie  slept  till  morning.  Upon  awak- 
ing, Satan  told  her,  You  can  not  get  up,  but 
prayer  and  faith  triumphed,  and  she  got  out  of 
bed,  dressed  herself  alone  and  walked  into  the 
kitchen  to  the  surprise  of  all.  This  was  about 
Thursday.  Sunday  came,  and  Mertie  and  my 
wife  rode  in  the  buggy  to  the  tabernacle. 
Mertie  walked  to  the  organ,  and  was  organist 
till  the  meetings  closed.  And  when  she  testi- 
fied to  God's  love  and  power  to  heal  many  eyes 
were  wet,  hearts  were  convinced,  and  some 
wanted  and  found  Mer lie's  God.  Oh,  my 
Father,  what  shall  I  render  to  Thee  even  ap- 


198  STEPPING   STONES  TO   GLORY 

proximately,  for  all  thy  loving  kindnesses  ;i:i  1 
benefits  ? 

About  the  year  1896,  the  writer  was  in  a  mis- 
sion hall.  At  the  close  of  the  services,  while 
standing  among  the  people,  a  little  girl  about 
seven  or  eight  years  old  worked  her  way  through 
the  company  to  my  side,  and  with  hand  ex- 
tended and  a  peaceful  countenance  said  to  me, 
"I  thank  you  for  making  me  a  Christian." 

Dear  reader,  that  face  and  the  sweet  intona- 
tions of  Christ's  babe  has  never  left  me,  and  as 
we  now  write,  tears  of  sweet  remembrance  moist- 
en our  eyes.  We  took  her  by  the  hand  telling 
her  that  it  was  not  us,  but  God  for  Chris; '> 
sake,  did  the  blessed  work  of  grace  in  her  heart. 
We  then  asked  her  name,  and  soon  recollection 
told  us  she  was  converted  at  a  cottage  meeting, 
when  after  the  regular  services  we  gathered  the 
small  children  about  the  altar  for  prayer.  Jesus 
the  good  shepherd  said,  "Suffer  the  little  chil- 
dren to  come  unto  me  and  forbid  them  not  for 
of  such  is  the  kingdom  of  God." 

The  writer's  health  being  so  poor,  we  deemed 
it  necessary  to  spend  the  winter  of  1898  some- 
where in  the  south,  staying  a  while  in  different 
localities.  There  was  a  woman  of  God  in  Si- 


STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY  190 

loam  Springs,  Arkansas,  an  evangelist  (her  hus- 
band helping  her)  who  as  we  learne:!  by  letter 
one  year  after  our  return  to  Iowa,  had  offered 
this  prayer :  "O  God  if  there  is  any  person  in 
this  world  who  will  trust  Thee  unto  death,  let 
me  see  his  or  her  face."  Wife  and  I  were  very 
much  impressed  to  stop  first  at  Siloam  Springs. 
So  Xovember  15,  1898,  found  wife,  our  little 
son  Horace  and  myself  on  our  way  there.  The 
first  prayer  meeting  night  found  us  in  the  First 
M.  E.  Church.  There  were  but  few  there,  the 
house  was  cold,  so  we  all  worshiped  God 
around  the  stove.  The  fire  from  Heaven  in 
a  special  message  seemed  to  fall  upon  my  wife, 
and  then  upon  us.  We  prayed  and  testified  in 
the  Holy  Spirit.  One  man  was  visibly  shaking 
and  nearly  all  wanted  more  religion  or  some- 
thing, but,  as  usual,  Satan  was  stirred,  and  wre 
understand  that  some  said  they  could  not  have 
that  kind  of  work  in  their  church.  Though  the 
pastor  and  the.  writer  became  good  friends. 
Hallelujah!  God  soon  had  work  for  us. 

The  next  Sunday  found  us  in  first  church  in 
the  morning ;  the  pastor  calling  upon  us  for  the 
opening  prayer.  After  the  sevices  a  Brother 
Baker,  an  ex-U.  B.  preacher  we  were  told, 


200  STEPPING   S1OXES   TO   GLORY 

said  to  wife  and  I  there  are  meetings  in  a  cer- 
tain part  of  town  known  as  Quaker  Town,  will 
you  go  ?  Arrangements  to  that  effect  were  made, 
he  and  his  wife  calling  for  us  the  following  eve- 
ning. The  vicinity  was  a  suspicious  looking 
one,  without  lights,  and  old  rickety  buildings, 
and  it  seemed  quite  natural  that  many  romantic 
thoughts  arose  in  my  mind  when  recalling  the 
fact  that  just  thirty-five  years  ago  the  eleventh 
of  the  coming  January,  the  writer  was  wounded 
in  one  of  the  most  bloody  battles  in  that  same 
state.  But,  was  God  dead  ?  Xo,  verily.  We 
reached  the  home  of  Brother  and  Sister  Grain. 
They  were  singing  truly  in  the  spirit  of  Christ. 
We  entered  the  room,  but  there  was  no 
empty  seats  at  first  in  the  house.  After 
singing,  testimony  was  in  order  before 
preaching;  but  there  were  no  regular 
preaching  services  there  that  night.  We 
were  partly  seated  on  the  edge  of  a  bench 
in  the  center  of  the  room.  I  arose  to  relate  in 
few  words  what  Jesus  had  done  for  me,  when 
these  words  came  into  my  mouth,  I  believe  if 
I  had  time  I  would  give  my  experience.  Just 
then  two  or  three  said,  tell  it.  Others  said  it 
is  a  long  time  till  morning,  etc.  We  then  took 


STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY  201 

our  place  at  the  far  end  of  the  room  and  God 
came  to  our  help  in  a  remarkable  manner. 
When  about  half  done  telling  of  the  workings 
of  God,  the  evangelist  jumped  up,  more  scream- 
ing than  shouting,  with  both  arms  extended  to- 
ward Heaven  for  a  minute  and  then  took  her 
seat,  she  stated  in  public  afterwards,  she  was 
never  so  near  Heaven  in  her  life  as  at  that  time. 
Praise  God.  Our  talk  was  ended.  The  message 
was  delivered.  Singing  began,  and  before  its 
close  the  writer  had  led  a  young  lady  to  Christ 
who  was  now  upon  her  knees  pleading  God's 
forgiveness.  More  testimony  followed.  We 
asked  a  Christian  Lady  how  badly  do  you  want 
this  experience,  bad  enough  to  seek  it  in  God's 
way,  and  pay  his  price,  all  \  Yes.  While  she 
was  consecrating,  we  prayed  and  believed, 
and  soon  she  was  praising  God  for  victory. 
Another  Christian  lady  at  my  right  desired  this 
entire  cleansing.  We  put  the  same  question  to 
her,  and  her  response  was,  Yes,  We  said  sister, 
give  me  your  hand  and  kneel  here.  But  the  in- 
stant she  took  my  hand  in  hers  she  fairly  yelled 
out  as  though  pained  in  some  way,  it  is  not 
necessary  to  kneel  I  have  it  now,  and  happily 
testified  to  the  experience.  This  was  Monday 


202  STEPPING   STONES  TO   GLORY 

night.  Thursday  night  she  testified  (we  were 
now  in  a  rented  hall)  as  though  she  had  been 
in  the  experience  for  ten  years,  and  among 
other  things  she  said,  I  have  used  tobacco  in  all 
its  forms  for  thirty-two  years,  and  praise  God 
it  and  the  desire  have  all  gone.  We  then  asked 
her  how  long  has  it  been  since  this  occurred. 
Her  answer  was,  since  last  Monday  night,  and 
we  shook  hands  over  it. 

Oh,  Praise  the  Lord ;  His  praise  shall  be  con- 
tinously  in  my  mouth.  Another  case.  The 
evangelist  was  continuing  the  meeting  in  the 
hall.  One  evening  at  the  close  of  the  services. 
a  young  lady  touched  me  on  my  shoulder,  say- 
ing that  her  mother  who  was  then  in  bed  from 
injuries  caused  by  a  runaway  team,  wished  to 
see  me.  The  next  day  wife  and  I  called  on  her. 
God  has  a  work  for  us  in  that  home  none 
knew  of  until  He  spoke,  "It  shall  be  given  thee 
in  that  hour."  He  was  after  that  daughter. 
There  in  the  presence  of  father,  mother,  wife 
and  myself,  that  beautiful  daughter  fonn  1 
Jesus  as  her  sanctifier,  weeping  out  her  joy 
upon  her  mother's  bosom.  Hallelujah! 

And  still  more  personal  work.     Our  little 
Horace    and    mvself    were    distributing    tracts 


STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY  208 

among  the  homes  in  town  one  afternoon.  The 
writer  knocked  at  the  door  of  a  house.  The 
man  hiinself  answered  the  call.  Will  you  please 
read  these  tracts,  which  I  give  you  in  Jesus' 
name  ?  He  invited  us  in.  We  plead  lack  of 
time,  but  he  urged,  so  we  went  in.  There  sat 
his  wife  and  grown-up  daughter.  We  soon 
learned  that  he  and  I  helped  in  the  capture  of 
Vicksburg.  Though  just  then  we  had  on  our 
hands  a  greater  battle  than  Vicksburg.  The 
victory  was  complete.  The  surrender  was  un- 
conditional, except  in  the  case  of  the  daughter. 
The  mother  surrendered  first,  then  the  father, 
but  the  young  lady  had  to  take  time.  She  prom- 
ised while  on  her  knees  before  God  to  give  her- 
self up  to  him  at  exactly  eight  o'clock  that  eve- 
!'iiig.  Like  little  Jesus  in  the  temple,  I  was 
about  my  Father's  business  although  Horace 
did  lose  track  of  his  father.  Beloved  reader, 
\\(  -cp  that  to  itemize  our  personal  work  it  can 
net  be  done.  We  shall  not  have  space;  so  we 
will  simply  condense  some  of  our  Journal  while 
in  Siloam  Springs.  Ten  public  exhortations. 
Three  sermons ;  cards  distributed,  1300 ;  tracts 
distributed,  7450 ;  Holiness  papers  distributed, 
150;  Testaments  distributed,  6;  families  vis- 


204  STEPPING   STONES  TO   GLORY 

ited,  13 ;  families  called  on,  130 ;  number  of 
conversions,  11 ;  number  seeking  Jesus,  0  ;  num- 
ber sanctified,  3  ;  number  seeking  sanctification, 
4;  money  (private)  given  to  the  poor,  $22.00, 
And  in  this  connection  let  us  state  that  to  this 
date,  December,  1902  we  have  bought  and  dis- 
tributed 49,000  tracts,  gospel  arrows,  cards, 
etc.,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  hundred  which 
we  now  have  on  hand.  We  praise  God  for  the 
privilege. 

But  before  we  close  our  work  in  Si- 
loam  Springs,  we  feel  led  to  just  mention 
one  case  at  the  depot.  We  were  in  the  <l<-]>ur 
checking  our  baggage,  and  buying  tickets  fur 
Towa  ;  a  cot  stood  in  the  center  of  the  room.  a:id 
upon  it  lay  one  of  the  railroad  hands,  stricken 
down  in  the  prime  of  life  by  palsy.  He  c«mld 
move  but  little,  and  speech  had  almost  failed. 
The  writer  talked  to  him  about  his  soul.  Oh 
horrors !  unsaved,  and  yet  so  near  hell.  I  beck- 
oned to  my  wife.  We  knealt  and  then  a  lady 
came  and  joined  us.  And,  there  amid  the  usual 
scenes  in  a  depot  just  before  the  train  comes 
in,  our  beseechings  reached  Father's  ear,  and 
the  palsied  soul  there  and  then  became  as  white 
as  snow.  Glorv  to  God  !  We  bound  monev  and 


STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY  205 

tracts  in  his  hankerchief  and  placed  it  inside 
his  shirt  bosom.  Just  then  the  train  came 
steaming  in. 

Praise  the  dear  Lord,  we  once  more  found 
ourselves  under  our  own  vine  and  fig  tree  in 
Iowa.  That  summer,  1899,  God  sold  our  farm 
for  us,  showing  us  by  vision  the  man  who  would 
purchase  it,  (a  stranger,  never  before  heard  of 
and  more  than  a  hundred  miles  away)  so  that 
we  recognized  him  on  sight.  Thus  saving  us 
some  hundreds  of  dollars.  We  bless  His  name. 
We  raised  and  retained  the  crop,  moving  into 
Nevada  September  28th. 

Before  writing  of  other  things,  it  seems  I 
must  just  touch  on  one  (to  me  at  least)  very 
important  truth.  My  health  was  very  poor. 
Our  oldest  son  was  married,  the  other  went 
on  the  railroad ;  Horace  was  going  to  school, 
and  at  the  time  we  are  speaking  of,  help  could 
not  be  gotten.  It  seemed  that  the  weeds  would 
take  our  corn  crop.  The  morning  in  question  I 
could  not  eat  breakfast.  The  morning  was  per- 
fect. Not  a  cloud  was  in  the  sky,  nor  even  a 
dew  upon  the  grass.  Between  nine  and  ten 
o'clock  I  almost  gave  out.  I  sat  on  the  plow 
and  reasoned  with  God  on  this  wise,  Lord  this 


206  STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY 

is  jour  corn,  I  am  your  child,  no  help  to  be 
had,  the  weeds  are  almost  ready  to  destroy  it, 
will  you  please  give  me  strength  for  Jesus'  sake. 
We  then  plowed  another  row  of  corn  and  sat 
down  to  rest,  and,  as  I  looked  into  the  pure, 
blue  vault  of  Heaven,  I  saw,  about  thirty  rods 
before  me,  and  about  one  hundred  feet  from 
the  earth  Jesus  extended  upon  the  cross.  His 
eyes  were  closed,  black  hair,  his  head  resting 
upon  his  left  shoulder,  and  one  of  the  most 
heavenly  smiles  upon  his  face.  From  that 
moment  I  could  work.  That  night  I  could  kick 
up  my  heels,  and  did  a  well  man's  work  until 
that  winter  began.  Praise  the  Lord.  Our  home 
in  Nevada  is  the  Lord's  property.  The  best  fur- 
nished room  we  call  the  Pentecost  room  :  -<  > 
named  from  the  first  holiness  meeting  held  in 
it.  During  that  meeting  it  was  in  truth  Cor- 
nelius' house.  When  your  servant  had  finished 
talking  on  I.  Sam'l  15  emphasizing  verses  3, 
22,  23, — the  Holy  Ghost  without  an  exception 
made  his  presence  felt.  One  person  was  pros- 
trated, others  jumping,  and  the  rest  praising 
God.  O  glory!  It  has  ever  since  been 
looked  upon  as  the  alma  mater  of  holiness  meet- 
ings. 


STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY  207 

Yes  beloved  reader,  we  wish  just  here  to  re- 
late to  YOU  how  God,  who  has  answered  scores 
and  scores  of  prayers  literally  answered  our 
morning  request  of  October  31st,  1900.  At 
about  eight  o'clock,  A.  M.,  we  were  holding  fam- 
ily worship.  The  writer  was  impressed  to 
ask  God  for  five  hundred  dollars  for  his  glory. 
We  arose.  I  then  went  into  another  room  to 
put  the  Bible  in  its  place,  and  there  I  got  the 
witness  to  answered  prayer.  I  laughed,  wept 
and  praised  God.  I  told  wife  the  five  hundred 
dollars  was  coming.  That  night  at  church,  we 
met  a  Bro.  T.  H.  Pettis  from  Ohio.  We  men- 
tioned the  fact  of  instructing  a  person  the  day 
before  in  sanctification.  He  replied,  O  I 
wish  I  had  been  there,  you  folks  have 
something  that  I  have  not ;  I  would  give  the 
worhl  for  it.  We  remarked,  that  is  just  what 
it  will  cost  you.  Come  to  our  house  and  see 
what  the  Lord  has  for  you.  He  said  he  would. 
Xovember  first,  before  breakfast,  he  was  on 
hand,  fasting  and  willing.  Breakfast  being 
over,  we  handed  him  the  Bible  to  lead  in  wor- 
ship. The  spirit  was  doing  his  own  work.  He 
tried  to  consecrate  but  could  not  get  the  wit- 
ness. 


208  STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY 

The  Spirit  revealed  to  me  it  was  his  pride. 
He  was  educated,  and  a  man  of  means,  so  I 
said,  Brother,  you  are  a  peacock.  He  saw  the 
point.  He  had  just  told  the  Lord  he  would  irive 
Him  five  hundred  dollars  as  freely  as  water, 
but  as  soon  as  self  was  upon  the  altar,  down 
came  the  witness  and  of  course  the  blessing.  He 
told  us  that  he  paid  fifty  dollars  down,  and 
in  a  short  time  had  sent  two  missionaries  to 
Japan,  costing  him  more  than  the  five  hundred 
dollars.  And  we  had  the  satisfaction  of  read- 
ing a  letter  from  the  missionaries  under  date  of 
February  26,  1901,  from  Aryma,  Tokyo.  One 
convert  had  already  been  won  to  Jesus  and  talk 
of  building  a  twenty-five  hundred  dollar  insti- 
tution, etc.  All  from  that  one  prayer  in  our 
little  kitchen.  O  Jesus,  take  all  the  glory ! 

Another  prayer  which  we  call  the  six-tin  m- 
sand-dollar  prayer,  was  answered  and  consum- 
mated inside  of  seven  months.  But  we  must 
forbear  details.  In  our  Journal  we  find  the  fol- 
lowing: The  reclamation  and  sanctification  of 
Arthur  Bartlett  Codling.  It  was  in  this  wise. 
While  he  was  in  a  restaurant  in  Des  Moines, 
Iowa,  June  22,  1899,  cutting  bread,  a  voice  said 
to  him,  You  go  home.  He  tried  to  smother  the 


STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY  209 

effects  of  that  voice  by  reasoning  it  away.  He 
then  resumed  the  cutting  of  the  bread,  when  all 
of  a  sudden  his  right  arm  failed  him.  He  then 
went  to  the  postoffice  to  see  if  he  could  get  rid 
of  that  strange  but  awful  feeling  that  was  so  dis- 
tressing, but  to  no  use.  Returning  from  the 
postoffice  that  same  voice  again  said  to  him,  You 
go  home.  This  time  he  said  to  the  voice  he 
would  not.  So  when  again  cutting  bread, 
though  a  strong  man,  his  right  arm  again  failed 
him.  This  so  alarmed  him  he  went  home,  tell- 
ing his  wife  they  would  take  the  evening  train 
for  his  folks'  (without  giving  any  reason  for 
it).  That  evening  they  reached  our  home  in  ex- 
cellent health.  The  next  day,  June  twenty- 
thhvl,  was  spent  in  looking  over  the  farm,  rid- 
ing bicycle,  and  all  the  other  amusements  which 
go  to  make  a  day  on  the  farm  interesting.  But 
not  one  word,  or  a  look  told  of  the  deep,  and 
terrible  struggle  which  the  arrow  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  was  causing  in  his  soul.  And 
then,  like  Jonah  of  old  fleeing  to  Joppa  to  get 
from  the  presence  of  God,  said  to  his  wife,  wo 
will  go  back  to  Des  Moines  on  the  morning 
(June  twenty-fourth)  train.  Alas  for  poor  hu- 
manity. Man  proposes,  but  God  disposes.  By 


210  STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY 

the  way,  God  it  seemed  wanted  another  witness. 
So  a  Brother  Welch  (who  had  himself  been 
blessedly  sanctified  and  received  the  witness  of 
the  Spirit  in  that  same  house  some  time  before) 
stayed  with  us  that  night,  June  twenty-third. 
The  next  morning,  about  one  o'clock,  our  son 
Arthur  was  awaked  from  his  sleep.  He  tried  T<> 
go  to  sleep  again  to  ease  conscience.  But  that 
same  voice  said  to  him,  If  you  go  to  sleep  again, 
you  will  never  awake.  With  that  he  began  to 
shake,  and  resemble  an  ague  patient  just  arrived 
from  Missouri.  He  then  came  to  our  room  and, 
touching  me  on  the  shoulder,  said,  Father,  I 
want  you  and  mother  to  come  down  stairs  and 
pray  for  me  for  I  must  be  a  Christian.  Shortly 
all  hands  were  up  and  on  deck  to  help  the  Lord 
beat  back  the  powers  of  darkness,  which,  praise 
God,  was  done  on  Pentecostal  lines,  by  way  of 
a  holy  picnic  which  lasted  till  between  three 
and  four  o'clock  in  the  morning.  After  things 
were  quited  down,  he  said,  among  other  things 
(for  by  this  time  he  was  reclaimed  and  sancti- 
fied), I  would  not  pass  through  what  I  have  en- 
dured for  one  hundred  dollars. 

And  now  for  mother's  dream  and  the  sequel. 
A  few  nights  after  this,  mother  dreamed  that 


STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY  211 

she  saw  a  large  field  of  wheat  growing,  sur- 
rounding which  and  among  which,  were  thistle 
of  rank  growth,  as  was  also  the  wheat.  His 
father  ordered  him  (Arthur  Codling)  to  take 
the  team  and  mower  and  cut  the  thistles  down, 
notwithstanding  it  was  the  Lord's  Day.  Xow, 
as  the  Spirit  shows  it  to  us,  it  is  this.  That 
field  of  rank  (God's)  wheat  (and  you  know  God 
used  the  field  of  wheat  with  its  sheaves  to  re- 
veal to  Joseph  what  was  for  him  in  the  future ; 
so  also  we  are  told  in  God's  word  how  literally 
true  it  was  brought  to  pass),  was  mission  work 
that  the  dear  Lord  had  in  readiness  for  Arthur, 
as  soon  as  he  met  His  conditions  and  received 
his  credentials — his  Pentecost.  Because  no 
Pentecost,  no  effective  service  in  soul  saving. 
Only  a  few  weeks  elapsed  till  we  received  a  let- 
ter from  Arthur  stating  how  strangely  and  yet 
truly  God  was  using  him  for  His  glory.  He 
sometimes  preached  three  times  per  week  in  a 
mission.  That  God  had  placed  His  seal  upon 
his  efforts  by  giving  him  three  souls  from  the 
start.  (Please  bear  in  mind  that  these  souls 
were  those  thistles  in  and  around  that  wheat 
field,  as  seen  in  the  dream.)  That  he  had  even 
been  called  out  of  his  bed  at  night  to  speak  at 


212  STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY 

the  mission.     Oh,  hallelujah  to  God  and   tl it- 
Lamb  !     Amen. 

But,  my  beloved  reader,  the  time  is  come  to 
end  this  book.  Notwithstanding  very  many 
precious  facts  and  truths  must  be  omitted.  If 
we  were  to  speak  of  the  scores  and  scores  of 
souls  that  God  has  given  to  us  to  introduce  to 
Jesus  both  for  pardon  and  for  entire  cleansinir, 
and  the  hundreds  of  others  benefited  in  many 
ways,  the  many,  many  visions,  and  the  almost 
numberless  literal  answers  to  our  prayers,  an- 
other book  would  have  to  be  written.  But  we 
have  delivered  our  message  of  love.  We  have 
already  learned  to  love  you  with  a  pure  love. 
But  amid  our  great  bodily  weakness,  pain, 
affliction  and  ignorance,  it  may  be  said  of  the 
writer,  as  was  said  of  one  of  old,  he  (she)  did 
what  he  could.  We  have  warned  the  sinner  of 
hell.  We  have  tried  to  make  the  blood-sprinkled 
pathway  from  a  human  heart  to  the  throne  of 
God  clear  and  plain.  And,  as  the  writer  again 
takes  a  retrospective  view  of  his  past  life,  he 
can  truthfully  say  it  has  been  well  spent,  bring- 
ing no  feelings  of  remorse.  And  with  Bunyon's 
Pilgrim,  he  can,  with  the  eye  of  faith,  behold 
the  shepherds  upon  those  delectable  mountains 


STEPPING    STONES   TO   GLORY  213 

feeding  their  flocks,  and  themselves  feasting  on 
the  ambrosial  fruits  of  Paradise,  and  basking 
in  the  sunlight  of  God's  presence.  And  with 
faithful  Paul  in  II.  Timothy  4:6-8,  say,  "For 
I  am  now  ready  to  be  offered  and  the  time  of 
my  departure  is  at  hand."  I  have  fought  a 
good  fight,  I  have  finished  my  course,  I  have 
kept  the  faith.  Henceforth  there  is  laid  up 
for  me  a  crown  of  righteousness,  which  the 
Lord,  the  righteous  Judge,  shall  give  me  at  that 
•  lay,  and  not  to  me  only,  but  unto  all  them  also 
that  love  His  appearing. 

Belove  1  reader,  undoubtedly  before  this  book 
falls  into  some  of  your  hands  its  author's  soul 
will  be  as  a  carrier  dove  conveying  Father's 
messages  to  earth.  May  He  come  to  you  ?  Will 
you  be  listening  ?  Will  you  obey  ?  So  now  T 
say  my  last  farewell  to  most  of  my  beloved 
rcjidcrs  (111  earth.  And  again  I  say  faro  vuu 
well !  But,  "if  we  walk  in  the  light,  as  He  is 
in  the  light,  we  have  fellowship  one  with  an- 
other, and  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  His  Son 
<•!<  anseth  us  from  all  sin."  I.  John  1 :7. 


214  STEPPING   STONES   TO   GLORY 

THE    BEST. 

(Selected.) 

"Christ  wants  the  best.    He,  in  the  far-off  ages, 
Once  claimed  the  firstlings  of  the  flock,  the  fine- 

est  of  the  wheat, 

And  still  he  asks  his  own  with  gentlest  plead  imr 
To  lay  their  highest  hopes  and  brightest  talents 

at  his  feet. 
He'll  not  forget  the  feeblest  service,  humblest 

love, 
He  only  asks  that  of  our  store  we  give  to  him 

the  best  we  have."     Amen ! 
THE  END. 


Agents  Wanted  to  Sell 
This  Book. 


ADDRESS 


MRS.  E.  CODLING, 

Nevada  Iowa.     Box  576. 


OCSB  LIBRARY 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 


A     000617893     3 


